


Bird's-Eye View

by SomniumAvis



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Evil Scientists - Freeform, Fluff and Angst, Gen, M/M, Song Lyrics, Wingfic, also probably really cheesy, and probably awkward at times, can be read as platonic bokuaka if you want, probably kinda ooc, scientific implausibilities, some fantasy elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-07
Updated: 2021-01-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:53:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 80,691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26341441
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SomniumAvis/pseuds/SomniumAvis
Summary: Akaashi Keiji is the foster son of two researchers, having lived with them in a remote research lab ever since his parents died in a car accident when he was a child.Bokuto Koutarou is an avian, a winged person, living on one of the floating islands in the sky hidden from humans, having been told to avoid the ground and humans all his life.When the two of them meet, conditions could be more favorable for both of them. But they make it work.
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou
Comments: 24
Kudos: 53





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I've been dragged into Bokuaka hell and left to rot. That's where this came from. I hope you enjoyed this weird idea I daydreamed up. 
> 
> A warning that this fic has many scientific implausibilities and and is based on 100% fake science. 
> 
> Title and lyrics are from "To the Sky" by Owl City because I can't help myself

_The air burned in his lungs as he ran, crashing blindly through thickets of thorny branches, ducking and twisting wildly to avoid the branches, trying to keep them out of his face. Noise sounded behind him, and he knew his pursuers wouldn’t be far behind._

_He wasn’t fast enough. The noises of people crashing through foliage sounded closer and closer. No matter how fast he tried to run, it always seemed like they were able to easily catch up to him._

_The thickets opened up, and he put on a burst of speed, weaving through the scattered trees, the night sky visible above him, the ground rushing past him._

_Suddenly, the ground ended in a sudden drop, and he stopped abruptly so as to not fall over the edge, skidding to a halt at the very edge of the drop. A few rocks dropped off the edge, vanishing into the blackness beneath._

_A low growl sounded behind him, and he whipped around to see shadowy figures prowling close to him. They had caught up while he was distracted, surrounding him. There was nowhere to run. There was the drop behind him, and his pursuers pushing forwards toward him._

_One of them moved suddenly, lunging at him, and he instinctively flinched away. But that involuntary flinch had unbalanced him, and there was suddenly nothing but air beneath him as he pitched over the edge._

_The air tore at his clothes and hair as he fell, whipping them everywhere. But strangely, he didn’t feel afraid._

_Then, the sound of cloth ripping filled the air, and two large wings shot out of his back, tearing his shirt in the process._

_And then, instead of falling, he was flying. His wings churned the air around him, filling the air with the sound of beating wings, and he flew._

Akaashi woke with a jolt. 

* * *

_Shipwreck in a sea of faces_

_There's a dreamy world up there_

_Dear friends in higher places_

_Carry me away from here_

_Travel light, let the sun eclipse you_

_'Cause your flight is about to leave_

_And there's more to this brave adventure_

_Than you'll ever believe_

* * *

This was ridiculous. This was the fifth night in a row that this had happened: dreaming of flying, and then waking up. It wasn’t the first time he’d dreamed of such a thing, but it was becoming more and more frequent. He would always wake up in the middle of the night, and going back to sleep was a process in itself. It was a process that he managed, however, no matter how long he spent tossing and turning. 

When Akaashi woke up to his alarm in the morning, he was still exhausted. It didn’t help that he never had been much of a morning person, either. However, in the remote lab he lived in with his foster parents, there was still work to be done, even for the kids living there. 

The research compound he lived in was practically a community in itself, with living quarters, cafeterias, classrooms, and a gym, built into the building. Apparently, whatever business was conducted in the labs (only the scientists working there were supposed to know, and no one else) was extremely confidential, so the workers had to live there 24/7. And as a result, many of them brought their own families to live with them, and the lab had become its own self-sufficient community. Of course, fresh supplies had to be brought in every few weeks, but other than that, everything was self-sufficient. The kids were taught by the adults living there or by the older kids, and many of the teenagers had their own work to be done in order to keep the lab running. 

Their living quarters were small, but there was enough room for the three of them. After Akaashi got dressed and left his small room, he could see that although his parents were already out of the apartment, breakfast had been set out on the kitchen table. That wasn’t uncommon. As high-level researchers, their work often kept them out of the apartment, working early mornings and late nights in the labs. 

Oh well. While their responsibility was to look after him, they weren’t his real parents. And while they did care about him, they had mostly stepped in out of obligation after his parents died in a car crash when he was four. At least, they tell him it was a car crash. He couldn’t remember anything from before living with his foster parents. He had apparently been caught in the crash as well, and the head trauma caused him to lose his memory. 

He sat down at the silent kitchen table, and idly watched the morning sun’s rays stream in from the kitchen’s small window as he ate. When he was finished, he cleared up the dishes and began to wash them in the sink, as per routine. His parents wouldn’t have any time to do it themselves, not with whatever secret business that kept them so busy in the labs. 

With breakfast done, dishes cleared away, he headed back into his room and booted up his computer to check for his assignment schedule, sent to everyone in the labs on a weekly basis, detailing what needed to be done. 

His first task of the day was class, which began at nine. Checking the clock, he saw that he still had about an hour and a half before needing to attend class. Maybe there’d be some time for him to go outside. 

Then, the chip embedded on his forearm beeped. He sighed. 

Besides memory loss, this was one thing that would never let him live as a normal teenager. He was apparently diagnosed with some rare disease that the scientists had never specified, and needed medication and constant monitoring because of it. Of course, he couldn’t remember if his birth parents knew about it. Well, the one upside of living in a lab was that there were plenty of doctors to help if something disease-related happened to him. 

The chip, a small rectangle of plastic and metal implanted in his left arm, beeped again, and he had to repress a sigh when he reached for the bottle of pills sitting on his nightstand. 

* * *

The dawn bled into the night, painting the dark sky with streaks of orange, violet, and pink. As an avian, a winged person, living on one of the floating islands in the sky, the view of the sky was beautifully clear. 

And as owl avians, their sleeping schedules didn’t stick firmly to waking by day, sleeping by night. Many of the residents of Fukurodani, home of the owl avians, had different sleep schedules. Some were awake by day and asleep by night, some were awake by night and asleep by day, and some had a combination of both, awake for the sunset and asleep for the sunrise, or awake for the sunrise and asleep for the sunset. Bokuto tended to be awake by midnight, up to see the sunrise and asleep by late afternoon. 

But as an apprentice of the Scouts, avians who had the job of flying out from the isle they lived on and surveying the surrounding skies to report back home, he had to have a somewhat flexible sleep schedule. But another good thing about avians, and owl avians in particular, was that they had the ability to bounce back easily from sleep deprivation, and could sleep whenever needed, even though they weren’t immune to sleep deprivation. 

He ruffled his large wings and stood up from where he was seated on a sturdy branch of a large tree, and turned to head back to the Scouts’ dorms. He easily leapt off the branch, extending his wings out to their full length, and flew on silent owl wings to the dorms. 

There was nothing quite like the feeling of air beneath wings that lifted one off the ground and into the open air, air and ground and water alike rushing past underneath. That was why he had chosen to join the Scouts out of all the other professions on Fukurodani, even though the Scouts were known for their need to fly into all sorts of danger and they had to know many different kinds of complex maneuvers and sometimes even how to fight in midair. But flight was a passion of his, and he had gotten quite good at it in the many years he spent training and flying, being able to fly fast, for long periods of time, and perform complicated maneuvers. He couldn’t imagine what it was like to be locked to the ground, like the humans living on the ground they had stories about. 

The thing about living on islands floating on the clouds was that resources were limited. They couldn’t just create large buildings, unlike what they heard of the humans that lived on the ground did. Instead, they had to weave their living areas around what they already had, such as trees of rock formations. The result was large nests built in tree branches and buildings built into trees and cliff faces. At least, the island had some very large trees, towering hundreds of meters into the air. 

The dorms were an arrangement of nests built in the branches of a large tree. The nests themselves were vaguely spherical and relatively small, built only to accommodate a couple people each, with only a couple small beds and a worktable in each nest. Rising rapidly through a series of power downstrokes, Bokuto flew towards the familiar nest that he lived in. He landed gently in front of the nest and folded his wings behind him. The broad branch he landed on barely moved beneath his weight. 

“Hey, where have you been?” Konoha asked from where he was perched on a branch above him, holding a flame lantern. “You know we’re supposed to be resting for the mission tonight. Our team leaves at first black.” 

“I know, I know,” he answered. “But either way, you don’t look like you’re sleeping.” 

“I was just about to head inside,” came the reply. 

“Okay. Goodlight!” He waved goodbye, and opened the door to his dorm and stepped inside, closing the door behind him. 

There was an odd number of Scout apprentices in his year, meaning that someone had to live alone in their dorm, and that someone turned out to be him. The good thing about not having a roommate was being able to take over the entire nest without having to worry about invading someone else’s space. 

He hopped up onto the loft where his bed was, buried himself in the down lining the bed, and pulled the blanket over himself. The bed was comfortable, but he knew he wasn’t going to sleep anytime soon. Not with light streaming through the small slit that served as a window of sorts in the roof of the dorm, and with the sky calling to him. 

* * *

The lab was built in a remote area, so there were no other buildings or people in sight when Akaashi opened the door, and stepped outside, flashing his ID card at a scanner. The compound was run in such a fashion that everyone needed to be monitored, and the most efficient way to keep track of everyone was by ID cards. 

The compound was built near the edge of a cliff that dropped down to the sea. Getting to the cliff was a ten-minute trek through a thin grove of trees and wild grasses. Akaashi wove through the trees with practiced ease, having made this journey many times before when he just wanted to get out of the compound. The early summer morning sun was already high in the sky, illuminating the area in bright gold light. 

When the edge of the cliff drew near in his range of vision, Akaashi stopped a safe distance away, the distant sound of crashing water faintly echoing below. Part of him wanted to back away lest he fall to his death, but another part of him wanted to fling himself off the cliffside to see if he would fall or fly. 

Ugh. He obviously would fall. That dream was probably getting to him. He shook his head, and turned around to head back to the compound. He had classes to get to. 

* * *

“A storm’s coming in.” 

That much was obvious, even in Bokuto’s tired state, and he shook himself violently to try and wake himself up. The five students of the small group that would be heading out to scout out the surrounding area were gathered at the edge of the island. Here, the ground dropped away to reveal the sea of clouds beneath them, and the sky unfurling before them. Now, the sky was darkening as evening set in, and the clouds were dark grey with the promise of a coming storm. 

But it wasn’t like the Scouts to back down from something like a storm. Part of their job was to fly into all sorts of storms, to try and scout out if it was possible for other avians or transport kites to fly through them. And as a result, much of their training was based on flying through storms, flying through vast expanses of sky, learning how to navigate, and learning how to survive the many possible dangers the sky had to offer. That was what made their profession so dangerous. 

“We’ll continue to watch it,” their instructor said. “The winds and storms at this time of year are particularly unstable and violent. The barrier winds will also be exceptionally difficult to weave through.” 

The barrier winds were the gusts of winds that blew around the floating islands some distance away, creating a barrier of sorts between the island and the rest of the sky. Sometimes, they were gentle and relatively easy to fly past, barely felt when an avian flew through them. Other times, they were strong enough to toss avians around and sweep them away in a wild rush of air. And at some times of the year, the winds would blow precariously close to the island so that it buffeted and pulled at any avians perched near the island’s edge. This posed a danger to children, as they were inexperienced flyers and could be thrown straight off the island’s edge. In the few cases that older avians were unable to retrieve them and take them back to safety, the ones thrown off the edge were lost to whatever lay below the island, unable to be rescued due to the vast expanse of space and the avians’ rule of avoiding ground-dwellers. 

They continued to watch, as the sun dipped lower and lower towards the horizon. The sky was cloaked in dark grey clouds, hiding the stars and moon from sight. Tonight would be difficult flying. Even with the owl avians’ night vision, flying in such low-light conditions would pose trouble. Navigation would also be difficult without being to see the stars, even with a compass. But either way, the decision to fly out was made. 

They flew out silently in a group of seven - five students and two teachers - in a V-formation with one of the teachers at the point. Immediately, they were thrown into the barrier winds, and much wild flapping and many strong downstrokes were needed to push through. Once they had flown clear of the barrier winds, the storm was upon them within a few seconds. Heavy winds and rain lashed down on them, throwing them around and reducing visibility. 

Now wide awake, Bokuto blinked and squinted through the mess of water pouring down from the sky, drenching his clothing and wings and hair, and fought to keep his wingbeats steady. No matter how many storms they had flown through as part of their training, the fact remained that all the blowing winds and rain made maintaining a steady flight path difficult. 

He was at the far side of the V, and he turned to the side to make sure the rest of the team was still in sight. Once he affirmed that he hadn’t drifted too far from the rest of the group, he turned his attention forwards again. 

And all around them, thunder and wind roared, and they flew, caught in the wild force that was a storm, exhilaration and fear in equal parts crashing through him. 

* * *

Akaashi pulled back the curtains in his room to peer outside the window. Rain was falling violently in thick sheets, and he could practically hear the wind roaring outside. If he focused his vision, he could see the trees and bushes outside being whipped every which way by the wind, despite the darkness. 

Hm. It wasn’t like it would bother him, anyway. He rather liked the sound of raindrops. They were nice to work to and nice to fall asleep to. He let the curtain fall forward, and moved to sit back down at his desk to continue working on his homework. 

After a few minutes of working at his desk, he heard the key turn in the lock of the apartment and the door open. 

“Hi, Mother, Father!” he called, getting up to greet them.

“Hello!” 

And of course, there was no time for a family dinner in their apartment. Dinner was instead served in the cafeteria, with the other residents. 

Half an hour later, the order for lights out came. In order to conserve electricity, all lights in the compound were turned off for the night, save for the emergency lights, which were dim lights set near the floor in most rooms and hallways in the compound. But even in the darkness, with the sound of pattering rain against the window, Akaashi found that he couldn’t sleep. 

* * *

The storm was probably stronger than expected. Bokuto wasn’t sure for how long they were flying, and there was no way to tell. Maybe about a couple hours? Everything looked the same in the darkness. At some point, the excitement that came in a rush when soaring through a storm had worn off. In this storm, the winds were tangled and snarled and fierce, and making progress in any direction took a lot of effort. 

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the teacher flying point signal at them to veer to the side, and he followed suit, the world tilting to the side as he angled his wings to follow the rest of the group. No one spoke. Words in a situation like this were pointless. No one would be able to hear them over the sound of the wind and the thunder, and there was a distance of several meters between each group member. 

This storm was definitely stronger than predicted. Bokuto straightened out his flight, taking up the position at the far end of the V. 

A few minutes passed, before he noted the hand signals being passed down the formation. _Turn back._ Well, it seemed that they would be heading back to the island. The storm must be pretty bad, in order to force a team of Scout trainees to retreat. 

The V pivoted, turning back and heading the direction they came in. Their only illumination the entire way was brief flashes of lightning in the distance. 

A while passed in wild gusts of wind and thunder crashing in the distance and rain pouring down in thick sheets, before they were able to see Fukurodani loom in the distance ahead of them, a darker shadow silhouetted against the dark clouds. The promise of shelter seemed to spur on the group, as they began to pick up speed, flying rapidly towards home until Bokuto could feel the air spilling over from the barrier winds blow gently against his face. 

It all happened so fast. One moment, they were all flying steadily in perfect formation, about to puncture the barrier winds, and the other, they were all swept away in a powerful gust of wind, tumbling head over heels with their wings flailing at their sides like ripped leaves swept away by an autumn gust. 

It took all of his strength to beat his wings, just to try and keep himself steady as the world spun and twisted around him. By the time the wind slowed down enough for him to pull out of the wind current and to gather his bearings, he realized he couldn’t see any of the rest of the team or Fukurodani. He couldn’t see anything except for dark grey clouds and dark sky around him, and the rain wasn’t helping. 

Panic began to set in. This was just great. Stranded in the middle of an extremely powerful storm that was near impossible to navigate in, tiring, and no help in sight. 

Well, first things first, he needed to find somewhere to wait out the storm. Even as good at flying as Bokuto was, the storm was stronger than he was. 

His best option was of course, to try and get to Fukurodani. But should he first try to find his teammates first before attempting to fly back up to Fukurodani? 

Of course, there was always the option to descend, and look for land below. But there were the dangers of humans. And he had no idea if there would be land or sea below him. 

There was no time to decide. With the rain coming down harder than ever, soaking through his feathers and clothing, and weighing down his wings, he needed to conserve strength. He spread his wings, gliding on the wind and scanning the surrounding clouds. He had no idea for how long exactly he did this, but he could estimate that it had been a while. 

Everything looked the same in the darkness. But one thing soon became clear: he had lost a lot of altitude either when he was carried away by the current of wind or in the time he was trying to search for his missing teammates. Below him, he could see the shapes of ground when he broke through the lowest layer of clouds, a sight he only seen once before in his life, in a Scout mission a year ago. 

Curiosity and a slight fear rose in him. Bokuto dropped a bit lower, still buffeted with rain and wind. Shaking the hair plastered to his head out of his eyes and then squinting, he could make out in the darkness that one part of the land below him was darker than the other, as if an invisible line divided it into two parts. 

Carefully, he drifted a bit lower, and he realized what he was looking at even though he had never seen it in person before. He had only seen it in drawings and pictures. It was where the land and water met. A cliff divided the two. 

The cliff looked uninhabited. Bokuto couldn’t see any of the telltale lights that marked humans’ dwellings. It wouldn’t hurt just to check out one uninhabited cliff, right? When would he ever get a chance like this again, to see what the ground was like? 

He began to spiral lower, beating his wings softly. Despite his ability to fly silently as an owl avian, his fourteen foot-long wingspan would be quite noticeable, especially in daylight. His wings were beginning to tremble in exhaustion from the strenuous flight, and it was clear that he wouldn’t be able to do any complicated flying anytime soon. Keeping his wings spread, he began to fly towards the cliff side. 

* * *

It was as if the universe was trying to laugh at him. After what felt like a few minutes after Akaashi managed to get to sleep, a loud alarm blared through the apartment. 

“Wha-? What’s happening?” he managed to call, equal parts alarmed, exasperated, and tired. Managing to claw himself out of the tangled sheets of his bed, he dragged himself up and stumbled out of his bedroom. The emergency lights were a dim yellow and provided little illumination, but it didn’t hinder him. He’d always had good night vision. 

“What is that?” Akaashi asked when he caught sight of the door to his parents bedroom opening. Even though they had most likely just woken up, they were dressed in their lab coats, albeit a little messily. 

“Proximity alarm. Something’s entered the area around the compound,” Father replied. 

The tablet lying on the kitchen counter buzzed, the screen lighting up. Mother picked it up, swiping at the screen and peering at it. Her eyes widened, and she said, “We need to go. It’s important.” She turned the tablet so Father could look at it, but turned it away when Akaashi tilted his head to try and see what was written on it. He nodded. 

“Akaashi, please stay here. We’ll be right back,” Mother said as they turned to head into outside. 

“Wait, what is it? What’s going on?” 

“You don’t need to know. We’ll handle it,” Mother said, pausing near the door. “We’ll be back soon. You don’t need to worry about it.” And with a brisk nod, she and Father ran out the door, closing it behind them. Through the living quarters’ thin walls, he could hear the muffled confused commotion of their neighbors. 

For many days to come, he would never learn what exactly possessed him to run after them. Maybe it was frustration of never knowing anything. Maybe he was just cranky about having his sleep interrupted so often. But the fact remained that once he was sure his parents were out of earshot, Akaashi hauled the front door open and ran after them through darkened halls. 

* * *

Carefully, carefully. He was on full alert as he scanned the area. Bokuto couldn’t see anything that may pose a threat as he flew even lower. There was a large, strange shape in the darkness that even he couldn’t quite make out. He flew a bit closer. 

It wasn’t until a loud metallic wail split the night and bright lights flooded the air around him that he realized his mistake. 

That strange shape he couldn’t quite make out had been a human living area. And now, half-blinded by light and out in the open, while he could make out human voices calling to each other with his sharp avian hearing. 

Evade and escape. He needed to get away. 

Many of the stories of humans they had among the avians were horror stories of humans and what they were capable of. The stories said that they were capable of doing things that no other creature on this earth had ever been able to, not even avians. While they weren’t as strong or fast as avians, they had changed and destroyed entire lands for their own benefit, and some said that they would kill any avians foolish enough to wander close enough to them. It was one of the theories for why most sky creatures that flew too close to the ground never returned. 

The sound of something whipping through the air met his ears, and he was able to narrowly avoid what looked like a large net fly through the space he had occupied just a second ago. 

He needed to go up. He beat his wings furiously, trying to fly up. 

A sharp, stinging pain shot through his wing. Had he been shot with something? He turned his head to see a strange, small silvery cylinder buried in his wing. 

A strange wooziness began to flood his veins. The world seemed to spin around him as every upstroke and downstroke of his wings seemed harder and harder to complete. He began to drift lower and lower to the ground with each passing moment. 

Then, something shot through the air and pain lanced through his wing. Gasping in pain, trying to hold back a cry of pain, he turned his head to the side to see something resembling a short spear lodged in his wing, attached to a long cord. Blood began to ooze out of the wood, coating his feathers. Pain pulsed through his wing each time he tried to move them, so he spread his wings out in a slow glide. 

That slowed flight cost him. Pain shot through his wings again and again as more of the cylinders were fired and lodged in his wings. It took a little for him to register that he was screaming as two other spears were fired into his other wing. He heard the sound of something weighty flying through the air, and before any of his muddled brain could register what was happening, he was tangled in a net. The net pinned his wings to his sides, pressing the spearheads painfully into the flesh of his wings, and he fell. 

Should Bokuto be thankful that he was relatively low to the ground and to the fact that he had been flying over land, not water, when the net hit? He could barely feel the pain of landing through the haze flooding his brain at the minute. What was in those cylinders? Sleep syrup? 

Voices yelled, and footsteps approached. Panicked, Bokuto tried to thrash against the net binding him, but it was futile, weakened as he was from exhaustion and the sleep syrup that was shot into him. He peered up from where he was lying on the ground, squinting through the bright lights aimed at him. 

_What are they going to do to me? Am I going to die here?_

The humans didn’t look that different from avians. They just didn’t have wings. All the humans around him were wearing some sort of uniform, strangely. They were all wearing either long, white coats or studier-looking black jackets. Except for one. 

Black hair. Green eyes. Maybe it was just the sleep syrup talking, but for a moment, despite the fear of what these humans were capable of and as ludicrous as it was, all Bokuto could think was, _He’s pretty. Pity that he’s human._

And then he wasn’t thinking of anything else, blackness crashing over him. 

* * *

Whatever had everyone so worried, it was apparently urgent enough that the scientists had forgotten to lock the front door behind them. It was wide open. 

When Akaashi ran outside, the area around the compound was flooded with bright light, starkly illuminating the trees and grass around the compound. The rain was still coming down hard, and he was drenched with a few seconds of setting foot outside. He squinted against the sudden brightness, and ran through the long grass to where people were gathered around something on the ground. He could hear excited voices yelling at each other. Some people took notice of him and shouted, but he paid them no attention, running past them and weaving his way to the front of the cluster of people. When he saw what they were gathered around, he immediately forgot the scientists’ protests and the “you shouldn’t be here”s. 

At first glance, he thought this whole business was just a fever dream, because there could be no other explanation for what he was seeing. 

Tangled in a net was what looked like a winged human, fighting weakly against the bonds. Large black and white wings were tangled in the netting and the cords from spears shot into the wings, and some of the feathers were stained red. Luminous yellow eyes blinked up at him, and he could see the spark of intelligence and fear in them. 

_He looks scared._

Frozen, as rain poured down on them, Akaashi held the gold gaze until the winged human’s head dropped to the side, eyes closing. 

He jumped when a hand suddenly rested on his shoulder, snapping him out of his stunned state of shock, and he turned to see his father standing behind him. “Akaashi, you shouldn’t be here.”

Akaashi turned his gaze back to the bloodstained wings visible through the thick netting, and felt his stomach twist. “Is this really necessary? Did you really have to...shoot him out of the sky?” he asked instead of answering, gesturing to what was in front of him. 

“Well, we don’t know what its motives are. It was flying into private property, anyway.” 

“ _He_ ,” Akaashi corrected, something defensive flaring in him at the mention of the winged human being called “it”. 

Father was then called away by another researcher, and Akaashi was left alone. Everyone that had been yelling at him when he first arrived seemed engrossed in some other business that had come up. 

Cautiously, he moved closer and crouched down next to the winged human. His face was hidden under a soaked mop of black and white hair, but the slight rise and fall of his side was enough for Akaashi to tell that he was still alive. 

“Hey, kid, you’ll need to back away,” a voice called. “We’re going to transport this thing inside.” 

Complying, Akaashi stood up and moved to the side, to allow four others to grab the edges of the net and haul it up, carrying the winged human between them. To where, he had no idea. 

* * *

Bokuto woke to pain stabbing dully in his wings. Blinking his eyes open, he was met with confusion when he saw solid, white walls instead of walls of stone or woven grass. 

The events of the night before flashed before his eyes, and he shot up, jostling his wings and wincing when it aggravated the stab wounds in them. The storm, being carried away by wind, flying to land, being shot and falling to ground. 

He whipped around to observe the small room he was in. There were white walls and stark lights in the ceiling, and the room was maybe big enough for him to pace around with his wings extended, but not big enough for him to try and fly. The ceiling wouldn’t allow him to fly up, anyway. One of the walls was made entirely of bars, like a birdcage out of the stories he’s heard, and he could see a hallway outside of the bars. 

There were no windows in the room, and that was when the dawning, terrible realization set in. He was on the ground, and he was trapped by humans. 

The sky had never felt so far away before. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bokuto probably would've suffered from altitude sickness by descending such a far distance in such a short amount of time, but let's just say avians don't get altitude sickness. There's also the question of just how high up the floating islands are and the question of if there's enough oxygen that high up, but let's just say there's enough oxygen.
> 
> (like i said, scientific implausibilities)


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my first time writing these characters, so apologies if they feel OOC. I'm also very sorry for how cheesy and cliche the "evil scientist" dialogue feels. 
> 
> Warnings for torture and panic attacks. Nothing particularly graphic, but be warned

_Bird's-eye view, awake the stars 'cause they're all around you_

_Wide eyes will always brighten the blue_

_Chase your dreams, and remember me, sweet bravery_

_'Cause after all those wings will take you up, so high_

_So bid the forest floor goodbye as you race the wind_

_And take to the sky (you take to the sky)_

* * *

Everyone in the compound knew that something happened last night, but no one knew exactly what. The answer that went out was that something flew into the lab’s general area, triggering the proximity alarm. There was a little chatter about it in the hallways, but eventually people just accepted that something happened, they weren’t going to know exactly what it was, and they moved on, going about their daily lives without giving second thought to what happened last night. 

However, Akaashi found his mind wandering back to the winged human that had been shot out of the sky again and again, fear-filled gold eyes staring up at him. 

After their capture had been hauled in, Akaashi had been herded inside after the rest of the workers, and yelled at by his parents. But the fact remained that they had no way of making Akaashi forget what he had seen outside, and so they had to be satisfied with Akaashi promising to keep what he had seen confidential. (Well, wasn’t that a surprise. They wanted to keep their business secret from all the other residents in the compound.) 

The best thing he could probably do was just forget what he had seen last night. There was nothing he could do. But as the image of the winged human thrashing against the net, bloodied wings pinned to his sides, replayed again and again in Akaashi’s head, he knew that he wouldn’t be forgetting anything about last night anytime soon. 

* * *

A small bed on stilts. A tiny table. That was about all the furniture the room Bokuto had woken up in contained. 

The wounds in his wings had been patched up with something white and soft, stuck to his wings with something thin and transparent. He pulled one wing forward, combing through his feathers until he reached one of his covered wounds, ripping the white stuff off of it. A quick examination was all the confirmation he needed that it was healing nicely. In a day or so, it would be completely healed. 

Besides that stuff on his wings, it looked like the humans hadn’t done anything else. He was still in his white, yellow, and black Fukurodani’s Scout uniform, and his hair still hung messily in his eyes, having been swept out of its usual style by the rain. 

There was no view of the sky, no way for him to tell what time of day it was, so he had no idea how long he spent waiting in that cage, pacing back and forth. 

At some point in the day (or was it night? He couldn’t tell), the sound of a door opening echoed down the corridor he had a view of through the bars that made up one side of his cage. Bokuto shot to his feet from where he was sitting on the bed, even though he had no idea what he could do from where he was caged. 

A human wearing a white jacket appeared through the bars, holding a tray. 

“What is this place? What are you going to do to me?” Bokuto immediately asked. His voice felt rusty. 

The human paused. “So you can speak our language,” he said. 

“Sure seems like it. Now can you answer my questions, or not?” 

Opening a small hatch near the floor in the bars that Bokuto hadn’t noticed before, the human slid the tray inside his cage. “Sure, we can answer your questions. But you’ll have to answer some of ours, too.” He gestured to the tray on the floor. “Now eat something. It won’t do any of us any good if you die from starvation.” And without any further chatter, he turned to leave. The sound of the door closing was loud in the empty corridor. 

* * *

“Who are you?” 

“What are you?” 

“Are there more of you?” 

“What were you doing when you flew so close to this compound?” 

“Where are you from?” 

“What are some of your capabilities, besides flight?”

There were many other questions, but those were the ones that more of less made up the majority of what the humans were asking. Besides the question “What were you doing when you flew so close to this compound” (to which he answered, “I was curious as to what it was,” which was pretty close to the truth, although they didn’t really believe him) he answered nothing else. 

“Why are you asking this? What do you want from me?” Bokuto finally asked in response to the humans gathered outside the bars. 

“We want to know more about you. That’s it.”

“Is that ever really it? How can I tell if you don’t want something else out of me? How can I tell if you’re going to use what you learn to come after the rest of us? We have stories, warning us of how dangerous humans can be. I can’t tell you anything,” he snapped. 

A dangerous silence fell over the area as they stood still. 

“Be as that may, I’m afraid we don’t have a choice. You want to keep your secrets for the good of your people...or whatever it is that you seem to be so dedicated to protecting,” one of the humans said. “But unfortunately, we are also pressed for answers, just as you are pressed to keep your secrets.” 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” 

“Just as there are consequences for you if you fail, there are consequences for us if we fail. Therefore, we are trying to do everything we can to make sure that we get what we need. And if that means resorting...to other measures in order to extract information, so be it.” 

* * *

“So, how’s he doing? The winged human that you shot out of the sky last night?” Akaashi asked, careful to keep his tone neutral. It was a rare night where the entire family was eating dinner together in their apartment, instead of separately in public cafeterias, and the three of them were gathered together at their small kitchen table.

“That’s not something you should be worried about, Akaashi. Besides, didn’t you promise to keep what you saw a secret?” Mother replied. 

“I didn’t tell anyone else what I saw, and I promise I’ll keep this a secret too. I’m just curious.” 

After a long pause, Father said, “It’s not going well. It’s frustrating. We see something completely new, unlike anything ever seen before, and we’re not making any progress with what we can.” At Mother’s sharp stare, he said, “It won’t hurt anyone if he knows, as long as he doesn’t let anyone else know. What more could he possibly know that could hurt him? He’s already seen.” 

“What? What is it?” 

Mother sighed, turned to him and said, “It’s not going well because we’re not getting any information out of him. He won’t tell us anything that he knows.” 

“You...want information out of him? And he won’t give it to you?” 

“Yes.”

“But why is that such a big issue?” 

Another long pause. “We obviously can’t tell you anything, but more or less, our superiors know that we made a big discovery. They know everything we know.” 

“...Your superiors?” 

“Well, the lab doesn’t run itself. There are other people that hold authority and provide funding for this lab, only they don’t stay at the compound,” Father explained. “They support this compound, and they demand results.” 

Akaashi paused. He had never heard this explained to him before. “And what happens if they don’t get the results they want? They must know that not everything’s going to work out.” 

“But they trust us to produce results, and stakes are high. If we don’t, they’ll cut funding for the lab, and a bunch of legal troubles plus a bunch of other things that are too complicated to explain right now could be added to the list of things for us to worry about,” Mother said. “Basically, if they don’t get what they want, we’re in a lot of trouble, and it’s easier for us to use more forceful ways to produce results than fail.” 

A chill slid up Akaashi’s spine. “Use...more forceful ways…?” he asked, his imagination leaping ahead of him. The image of bloodstained feathers and spears embedded in flesh flashed through his head. He shook his head, trying to focus. “Okay, what do you even want to know?” 

“The first things you would want to know when you encounter a new, intelligent species. What are you called, what are your ways of living, all that,” Mother replied. 

“Don’t worry about it, Akaashi. It’s not your job to,” Father said calmly. 

All this trouble, just to try and understand more? All pain they would cause, just because they couldn’t think of another way to work around the first obstacle they came across? 

_Golden eyes filled with fear peering up at him, black and white wings tangled in netting, feathers stained red with blood…_

“I’ll do it.” He had absolutely no idea what he was doing. But he did know that the look of pain and fear he had seen last night was something he never wanted to see again on someone else, even if it was someone he didn’t know. 

“Pardon?” 

“I volunteer for work in the labs. I’ll get your information out of him. You won’t need to trouble yourself with...your ’more forceful ways’ of extracting information.” 

“You…?” 

“No, it could work.” He could feel himself getting more confident as he continued to speak, although he made sure to keep his voice level. “You’re probably scaring him. If he sees someone friendlier, he might open up more. I can pretend to sneak in, pretend I’m offering help to him.” 

There was a long pause that felt quieter than any other of the awkward pauses that dinner. Akaashi tried to keep his expression blank, trying to hide the near desperation that was rising in him.

“We’ll...have to discuss this,” Father finally said. “Akaashi, you don’t know what you’re getting into.” 

“It’ll be safe. If you have weapons like what I saw last night, you must have ways to separate the two of us if he does try and attack me, right?” 

“It should be fine. We do have security measures in place,” Mother finally said, after another pause. 

Father sighed. “We’ll have to get it approved with the rest of the team. But yes, if you wanted our permission, I suppose you can help. Just be warned that things could be weird. This is all new territory, after all.” 

Quickly shoving the flash of triumph down before it could show on his face, Akaashi said, “Thanks. I’ll make sure to be of use.” 

“If it does get approved, we’ll let you know. We’ll have to make changes to your schedule. But you’ll also have to keep your grades up in class, or we’ll pull you out of this side job,” Mother added. 

“Right. But just promise me one thing. While I’m working at this, don’t try to torture answers out of him. I don’t think that’s fair.” 

“Alright.”

Akaashi held the twin gazes staring at him across the table. _Of course, I’ll do everything required of me. Just please, don’t hurt him._

* * *

His request got approved two days later.

* * *

The only sign of passing time in that tiny cage was the dimming of the lights. In what was probably the morning, the lights turned up to full brightness, and in what was probably the evening, the lights turned off and the only illumination was the dim yellow lights set near the floor. Bokuto had no idea what was creating these lights. It certainly wasn’t fire, or glowworms that they used on the floating isles. But that was what he expected of these humans, he supposed. Being able to use and harness things that avians had never even heard of. 

So far, since he had woken up, he had counted three days and two nights. Each day, more of the humans would demand answers he knew that he should be withholding. But even he could tell that they were beginning to get impatient. And the cell was starting to feel unbearable, a small cramped space with barely enough room to stretch his wings. Ever since he had woken up, he hadn’t been let out once of the room. 

Now, he sat perched on the bed was he watched the stark lights on the ceiling turn off and the dimmer lights near the floor turn on. He liked the dimmer somewhat better than the ceiling ones. They were more like the flame or glowworm lanterns back home. Warmer. 

Then, the sound of the door opening reached his ears, and Bokuto shot up straight. Were the humans coming back this late? Although, the sound of the door opening and then closing sounded different than when the humans wearing white came to his cage to question him. This sounded quieter and more delicate, as if the person was trying not to be heard. 

Another human appeared in his field of view, padding quietly, and he jumped to his feet, walking forward to stand at the bars and letting his wings flare out slightly behind him. It was the younger human he had seen when he was first shot out of the sky, the pretty one with green eyes. He wasn’t wearing the white coat that all the other humans he’d seen wore, but instead what looked like casual clothing, a short-sleeved shirt.

“What’s this, what’s this? A human coming to visit me in their spare time?” Bokuto asked, injecting some brightness into his tone even if bright was the last thing he was feeling at the moment. 

“Not so loud,” the human said quietly, stopping in front of the bars and turning to face him. “I’m not supposed to be here.” 

“And why should I care?” 

“You shouldn’t, honestly. But I’m probably the closest thing you have to an ally here, because everyone else here...they aren’t good people,” the human replied. “They won’t hesitate to torture you, if you don’t listen to their demands.” 

That had been implied, but it still sent fear skittering up Bokuto’s spine when he heard it. “And betray everything I stand for? Not a chance.” The human paused, and Bokuto continued, “We have stories of humans. Horror stories, about how they don’t hesitate to destroy entire lands just for their own benefit, about how they’re intelligent enough to shape the future of this world, about how they won’t hesitate to kill us if we fly too close to the ground.” 

“Too close to the ground? What do you mean?” 

Dammit. He had given away too much. He began to pace back and forth in front of the bars as he asked, “Does it matter?”

The human leaned back against the far wall of the corridor and sank down to the ground, sitting back with his back pressed to the wall and knees bent in front of him, his left arm pressed behind his back. “Fine. Will you at least give me your name, at least?” he asked. 

“Why? What are you even doing down here, if you said that you weren’t allowed here?” Bokuto demanded instead of answering. 

The human paused briefly, and then said, “I couldn’t sleep, and I heard about where they were keeping you. And for the record...I don’t think it is okay. You shouldn’t be locked in here. They’re at fault for trying to shoot you out of the sky. You did nothing wrong.” 

Eyes widening slightly at his bluntness, Bokuto stopped moving, shaking his wings and ruffling up his feathers. The human’s eyes tracked the movement. 

_Maybe not all humans are like the stories…_

“I don’t even know if I can trust you,” Bokuto found himself saying. Maybe not all humans were like in the stories, but he still didn’t even know who this person was. And in this dangerous cage, maybe he found a friend? 

“You can’t, but I’m not asking you too. All I want is to be able to stay here without all this hostility between us,” the human replied. “I’m Akaashi Keiji, by the way.” 

“Bokuto Kotarou.” Why did he give him his full name? But there wasn’t anything he could do now to amend it. 

“Nice to meet you, Bokuto-san.” Akaashi sat up straighter and crossed his legs in front of him, seeming to survey him. For some reason, he kept his arm behind his back, even though Bokuto could imagine that it wasn’t very comfortable. “Do you put your given name or your surname first?” he asked.

“Surname first. Why do you ask?” 

“Because we also put our surnames first and we use our surnames when addressing each other here. Using given names is a step up the social ladder.” Akaashi tilted his head slightly. “Looks like we have at least some things in common, huh?” 

* * *

_The light of the setting sun cast a warm golden light. Akaashi headed up the gentle slope, to the edge of the cliff, cold winds whirling and roaring around him. The compound had felt too stifling, again, and he needed to get out. The sun glowed with all the warmth of summer, but the winds cast a chill on it all._

_When he approached the cliff, he stopped at the edge and looked down. But instead of seeing dark water below him, he saw only a sea of white clouds, as if the area was suspended in the sky._

_“Be careful,” a voice said, and Akaashi turned to see Bokuto standing behind him, large wings spread. “Don’t fall off, and don’t fly too close to the ground. Never fly too close to the ground, or you’ll be trapped by the humans living there.”_

But I’m human. They surely won’t trap me. And I can’t fly, _Akaashi tried to say, but his words were drowned out by the roar of the wind._

_He hadn’t noticed before, but the winds were growing stronger and stronger, until he could barely keep his balance, being pushed every which way by the winds. Bokuto, however, stood steady, wings spread behind him like a magnificent cloak, hair and clothes being whipped every which way by the wind._

_“Be careful,” Bokuto said again in a flat voice that resembled nothing like the energy that he had spoken to Akaashi with before, even dulled as it had been, and Akaashi had to suppress a shiver that had nothing to do with the wind._

_He slowly took a step back, and then lost his balance as a particularly powerful gust of wind pushed at him. Practically being lifted off his feet with the force of the wind, he was thrown backwards and off the edge of the cliff._

_He tumbled head over heels, and he was then submersed in the sea of clouds, white all around him. Akaashi had no idea for how long he was falling, but at some point, he managed to weakly extend the small wings protruding from his back. They were nowhere near as large as Bokuto’s and would never support his weight. But still he stretched them out, and his fall began to slow, although he continued to descend, cool air rushing past him and making it hard to breathe._

_Then, the clouds thinned out as he managed to find his balance, caught in some movement that was a cross between soaring and free-falling. When he looked down, he saw the dark sea below him as he broke through the clouds._

When Akaashi woke this time, it felt like coming slowly out of a fear-induced paralysis, not sudden like most of the other times that he had woken from one of his strange dreams. The dreams were surely becoming more and more common, and it was annoying to think about the fact that he might never be able to sleep peacefully again. It didn’t help that it now seemed the topic of his strange dreams had shifted from just flying to all sorts of other subjects, such as falling off a cliff. 

A mix of exasperated, exhausted, and irritated, he turned to peer at the digital alarm clock sitting on his bedside table. 2 AM. 

He sighed and flipped onto his stomach. He had spent most of the evening with Bokuto, sitting across from him, bars between the two of them. Despite the fact that he promised that he would try his best to yield results, he hadn’t dared to try to awkwardly prompt conversation. Bokuto might have grown suspicious otherwise, and he didn’t want to risk that. 

That first meeting with him that the researchers had set up had been rushed. Akaashi had been led to the labs, and then thrown headfirst into the containment wing where they were keeping Bokuto with barely any explanation as to what exactly was expected of him and what measures they had in place, but maybe that was just what came with being involved with a top-secret project that he wasn’t supposed to know about. Maybe next time, there would be more explanation. 

Bokuto had been...okay, in a word. He didn’t try to actively attack him during their meeting, at least. He had just folded his wings over himself and turned away from Akaashi when he didn’t want to talk anymore. 

Akaashi had no idea what to make of this whole mess. One, they didn’t know who Bokuto was and why he was in such close proximity to the lab. Two, he had been apparently shot out of the sky, injured, and locked in the lab’s prison cells (which Akaashi didn’t even know existed until now). Three, it seemed that Bokuto’s people, whoever they were, regarded humans as a threat, dangerous to them and to all of the world. 

Well, maybe that last one wasn’t so false. He rolled onto his side, pulling his blanket more securely around himself. After all, weren’t they the ones who had attacked him first? 

Ugh. This sort of moral dilemma was better saved for the morning, not for the dead of night, especially when he had class first thing the next morning. 

* * *

He woke to the lights brightening again in the morning. His sleep schedule was all off-kilter, because he had to adapt to the humans’ sleep cycles. In the daytime, there would be some kind of movement or action around him. If it wasn’t the humans questioning him from outside the cell, then he would be able to occasionally hear some faint noise through the walls with his avian hearing. It was only during the night, when all the lights dimmed, that he would be able to finally get some sleep, with no disturbances. So it seemed like humans, like most avians with the exception of owl avians, slept in the night and were awake in the day. 

Most of the day passed without a single visit. Bokuto once again ended up pacing, waiting for them to come back anytime now. This was weird. What were they doing, if not asking him questions that they already knew he refused to answer? 

When the sound of the door opening echoed through the hallway, he sprang up from where he was sitting on the bed, his jacket falling off onto the bed, heading over to stand near the bars. 

“Finally! Where were you? I spent all day without any one of you asking me pointless questions!” he said loudly. 

The human didn’t reply, instead, rummaging in a back pocket and pulling out something grey and angular, shoving the front of it past the bars of the cage. 

A sharp _bang,_ a sharp sting, wooziness flooding his veins, crashing to the floor as his vision blurred, and then nothing. 

* * *

The world blurred back into focus. Feeling groggy, as if he had woken from a deep sleep, Bokuto tried to drag himself up, but something kept him from sitting upright. He only then noticed the feeling of metal chains wrapped around his arms, keeping him in a bent position on the floor of whatever room he was in. Chains were wrapped securely around his wings as well, stretching both of them out to their full length and keeping them spread behind him. In a normal situation, he might have been reassured to have his wings out, but now, he just felt vulnerable to whatever they would choose to inflict on him. 

Lifting his head to observe the room he was in, a surge of nervousness pushed at him when he took in the sights. This room was dirtier than the cell he was previously in, with dark grey walls and a dark grey floor covered in a thin layer of dust. The lights were stark and sputtering. Scanning around him, he saw a table off to the side, but couldn’t see what was on it due to his position on the floor. He also saw what looked like a pot of coals, giving off a warm firelight that looked extremely out of place in this dreary room.

“Tranquilizer’s wearing off,” he heard someone say as he let his gaze pan across the room. “By the looks of it, the more potent tranq takes about a few hours to wear off. Might wanna record that.” 

“Right.”

“Hello. We have some questions to ask, and we’d like you to answer them, if you don’t mind,” someone politely said, and Bokuto turned to see a human sitting in a chair a distance away from him. 

“What?” The emotion he recognized feeling was confusion, but all his instincts were screaming that he should be afraid. 

“Alright. There’s no point in delaying, so we’ll just get right to it. I hope that’s okay with you.” 

He didn’t say anything, too preoccupied with the gruesome details his imagination was coming up with. 

“Alright, first question. Where are you from?” the human sitting in the chair asked. 

“I’ve already told you. No thanks,” he answered, dimly aware of some sound beside him, as if someone were rearranging objects on the table.

The human signalled with one hand. He didn’t have time to brace himself when something sharp, cold, and rough, with what felt like jagged edges, dug into the back of one wing and dragged down, slowly carving a line into his flesh. Something warm and liquid dampened his feathers. He was bleeding. The blade in his wing was cold, but the pain ran hot.

It wasn’t quite a scream he made, but it was some gasp of pain. The knife - he was sure it was some kind of knife or blade that they were using to make him bleed - pulled away from his wing, but that didn’t bring any relief. Distracted with pain, he was only able to trash weakly against the chains binding his wings.

“Please, just answer our questions, and it’ll stop,” the human said. Blinking tears of pain out of his eyes, Bokuto turned his head to peer at the human. “What’s it like, where you’re from?”

He would’ve liked to say he had some dignified response to that. But he didn’t. For once, he had nothing to say, because he was too busy trying to focus through the pain and the wild panicked thoughts of _they’re going to torture me until I say something or until they kill me._

The blade dug again into his wing, just beside the slash that was already cut into his wing, and dragged another line down, breaking skin and spilling blood as pain shot up his wing.

He screamed that time. 

“What are you able to do besides flight?” No response. Another cut, another sharp ache.

“What do your kind know about humans?” No response. Another cut, another sharp ache. 

“What can you tell us about yourself?” No response. Another cut, another sharp ache. 

At that point, the world was a blur of pain and hot, hot blood pouring down his wings. His feathers and back felt drenched in warm, sticky blood. Even the blade or whatever it was they were using felt warm, heated by his blood. He felt dizzy, but he had no idea if it was from blood loss from the open cuts on his wing or from lack of oxygen due to all the screaming. Maybe it was from pain. It felt like some of his cuts had stopped bleeding where the blood was clotted. A lot of the cuts were also very messy, curving over his wing in a mess of zigzags where he had thrashed when they tried to make the cut, causing a gash that was originally meant to be a straight line instead zigzag madly over his wing. 

But of course, he wouldn’t be able to die, wouldn’t he? It took a lot to kill an avian. Avians had amazing regenerative and healing abilities, being resistant to diseases and being able to even regenerate lost limbs. Blood loss severe enough to kill an avian would have to have come from multiple lost limbs plus heavy damage to the abdominal area. Surface flesh wounds such like the wounds he had received from being shot out of the sky or the cuts he was receiving now would heal in a couple days.

But that didn’t mean it hurt any less. 

At some point, he found himself half kneeling, half lying in a small puddle of his own blood, trying to steady his breathing. His cheeks felt wet. Should he be grateful that they hadn’t cut up both of his wings?

“Alright. That should be enough for today,” the human said lightly. “We’ll just need to patch up these cuts. It will hurt, so I’ll remind you that if you decide to answer anything during then, we’ll take a week’s break before doing this again. After this is one last test, though, but then that’s it for today.”

Oh god, what kind of painful thing would they use this time? He then saw one human walk over with a metal rod that was glowing red-hot. 

“You’ll want to hold still for this one,” a voice said, and that was all the warning Bokuto got before searing hot pain and heat burned into his wing, singing feathers as the slashed skin was painfully welded together. 

He didn’t pass out from pain, but he wished he did. His wing was now one giant mess of pain and heat. 

When the rod drew away from his wing, he slumped over as best as he could with the chains wrapped around him, vaguely aware of the humans moving around him. 

“Alright, hearing test now, right?” he heard someone say. 

“Yeah.” A few clicks sounded, and then a high metallic scream unlike anything he had ever heard before ripped through the air, feeling like knives driving themselves into his skull. He couldn’t contain the cry of pain that ripped out of his throat, thrashing against the chains. 

A few times, the noise was turned off for a human to demand answers out of him, and when he refused to answer, the noise started back up again. He had no idea how long it went on for, but at some point, the noise mercifully turned off and he was left with his head spinning. 

These humans...really were like the stories the avians had. All of them were. Except for one. 

Akaashi, with his deadpan voice and flat stare, was actually quite pleasant compared to these monsters. Bokuto actually found himself missing his company. 

* * *

He made sure to wear a long-sleeved shirt to cover up the chip in his arm, before heading out to speak with Bokuto for his work. Judging by Bokuto’s words last night, humans were to be feared, and Akaashi had no idea how he would react to seeing something human-made embedded in his arm. It was probably a lucky stroke of good judgement and intuition that Akaashi decided to hide his left arm behind his back when he first talked with Bokuto in the labs. 

The walk to the labs was brisk, leading through a confusing tangle of long corridors that all looked the same, plain, undecorated, pale walls with stark lights set in the ceiling. One day, he might learn to navigate this maze of halls by himself, but for the moment, he had to be guided by some of the more experienced workers, namely, his parents. 

Unlike the day before, he was shown around. Mother, who was apparently one of the head researchers on this project along with Father, led him on a brief tour of the general area, such as the labs, and the containment wing. “You’ll eventually get to know this place better if you choose to work here after completing classes and graduating,” she said. “Maybe even sooner, with the work you’ve volunteered with.” 

After the tour ended and they were standing by the containment wing’s closed door leading to the rows of cells, Akaashi asked, “Do you have a microphone or something to record our voices? I saw a camera in there yesterday, but not much else.” 

“Yes, there is a microphone, hidden under the camera. We’ll be able to record your conversation and listen back on it later. We’ve also taken the best notes as we could based on information given in the recording of your first conversation.” 

Like the night before, Akaashi gently opened and closed the door as he stepped into the containment wing. Bokuto was still awake, sitting upright. He froze when he took in Bokuto’s slumped frame, blanket partially wrapped around him and one wing extended listlessly to the side through an opening in the blanket wrap. The other wing was somewhere behind him, where he couldn't see it. He had noticed that Bokuto looked tired the night before, but now, he looked terrible, pale skin and rings underneath his eyes. The feathers on the one visible wing were ruffled, as if someone had been grabbing at them and pulling them. 

“Are you okay?” Akaashi quietly asked, deciding that showing Bokuto that he cared about him didn’t make a bad conversation starter. 

He shrugged in response. 

Last night, Akaashi had stuck close to the wall, keeping his distance. But now, he let himself closer, until he was standing right in front of the bars separating them. “Please, I just want to help,” he said. 

“...It’s nothing,” Bokuto finally said dully, voice hoarse as if he had been screaming. 

A sharp stab of worry pulsed at Akaashi. Deciding to let it drop for now, he turned to peer at the wing extended to the side. Raising an eyebrow in surprise, he said, “It looks like you’ve already healed from getting shot out of the sky.” 

Bokuto made a sound that was probably meant to be laugh but sounded more like a cough. “We avians heal fast. A few stab wounds like that heal in about a couple days at most.” 

_So, they’re called avians?_ Unsure of how to reply, Akaashi sat down in front of the bars, crossing his ankles in front of him. Bokuto’s eyes tracked his movement. They then sat in silence for some time. Akaashi didn’t bother trying to count the seconds. 

“You really are pretty, you know,” Bokuto said, breaking the silence.

Akaashi jerked his head up in surprise. “Excuse me?” 

“I said you’re pretty, Akaashi. Do humans not know how to receive compliments?” 

“I...thank you.” Caught off guard and not knowing how to reply, Akaashi fumbled around for what to say before Bokuto spoke again. 

“You’re welcome.” 

They fell back into silence, once again leaving Akaashi to fumble, grasping at any strands of a conversation starter and coming up with nothing. _Say something, anything._

“I’m sorry,” he found himself saying. 

“For what?” 

“All of this,” Akaashi waved a hand at the walls around him. Dammit, when did info digging turn into this? “I meant what I said last night. You don’t deserve this. And I’m sorry they did this to you.” 

“‘They’? You don’t count yourself as one of the other humans?” Bokuto tilted his head to one side, black and white hair falling across his face. 

“I...I guess not. Because we’re on two different sides.” Akaashi drew his knees up to his chest and wrapped one arm around his legs. When Bokuto didn’t say anything, he asked, “How old are you?” 

“Eighteen years.” Bokuto gave the answer surprisingly easily. “But I have no idea what that means to you. I don’t even know if we count time the same way.” 

“Well then, how do you define a year?” This was good. He was getting info, and hopefully, Bokuto would be spared from harm. 

“One full cycle of the seasons, along with...other ways to tell,” he replied. 

Ah. Another thing they had in common. “I’m seventeen years old. I’m sure we also count time the same way. Here, one year is one cycle of all four seasons, about 365 days long,” Akaashi said in response. “Although, every four years, the year will have 366 days instead.” 

“Oh.” 

Peering past Bokuto and into his cell, Akaashi could spot the small camera that the workers had told him would be there, a small black circle. Bokuto shifted again, and Akaashi’s eyes were drawn back to the one visible wing. 

“What’s it like? Having wings? Being able to fly?” 

God, what were those dreams doing to him, making him ask such stupid things? Akaashi bent over until his chin was resting on his knees as he waited for some response. 

When he dared to look back up, Bokuto was staring straight at him, as if trying to read his eyes. “What’s it like being able to fly, you ask? Oho.” One hand came up to run through his messy black and white hair, pushing it back from his face before it fell back over his forehead again. For some reason, Akaashi’s heart jumped at the sight. 

“Well…?” Akaashi prompted, shoving that strange burst of feeling down into some deep pit in his stomach to analyze later. 

“It’s...I don’t even know how to explain it.” Bokuto laughed again, wildly. “It’s the most amazing thing ever. You’re moving quickly in crazy patterns, suspended in midair with nothing supporting your weight except your wings, and when flying over land, you see it all spread out below you.” 

“We call that ‘bird’s-eye view’. When seeing something from an elevated perspective, as if we were flying,” Akaashi said. 

“Bird’s-eye view,” Bokuto repeated. “That makes sense. Because you see it as if you were a bird. We don’t really use words like that, because we can actually fly.”

Akaashi felt one side of his mouth tilt up, unbidden. “I wonder what that’s like.” It would be beautiful, surely. 

“It’s beautiful!” Bokuto replied and Akaashi twitchted in surprise, wondering for half a second if Bokuto read his mind. “Especially when you’re moving quickly, knowing that there’s freedom that comes with this ability to fly and to see all that. That’s why we value our wings so much.” 

_I wish I could see that,_ Akaashi thought for a brief second, before shaking his head slightly. As amazing as it sounded, there was no possible way that he would actually fly the way Bokuto was describing. 

“We have things called airplanes. We humans can’t fly ourselves, so we find other ways to move across large distances quickly. Airplanes are these large metal vehicles, shaped a bit like large birds, that can fly. We ride inside them,” Akaashi said. He never took an airplane before, though. Nearly his entire life had been spent living at the compound, and he had only left the compound before a few times, on short trips. Everything he knew about the outside world was from the Internet.

Bokuto raised an eyebrow. “Are they noisy?” 

“Oh, yes. They are.” 

“Because sometimes, when we fly out into the far open sky, we hear this loud sound, like a roar. Sometimes, we can see these huge shapes fly out in the distance, but we always hide ourselves behind cloud cover. No one’s sure what exactly they were, because we always stayed away for our safety. Maybe those are your airplanes?” he asked. 

Talking with Bokuto was actually kind of fun. Akaashi wasn’t the most sociable, and polite conversations with strangers always felt awkward and stilted to him. But this didn’t. It was like talking to a friend. Was it just Bokuto?

“Maybe,” he answered. 

Then, a quiet, muffled crash was sounded through the walls. Akaashi froze. Not even Bokuto made a noise. 

“That sounds like you’ll be found out soon. You better run if you don’t want to be seen. Didn’t you say you weren’t supposed to be here?” Bokuto asked, and Akaashi twitched in surprise. Did Bokuto actually care about him?

“I’m sorry. I have to go, or I’ll be found,” Akaashi whispered to Bokuto, although he was internally screaming in frustration. What were they thinking, causing so much noise outside that they could even hear them from inside the containment wing? 

“See ya, ‘Kaashi,” Bokuto said, leaning back slightly on the bed. 

Akaashi nodded. “I’ll come back as soon as I can without looking suspicious,” he said, and then darted quietly down the hallway, quietly opening the door, slipping out through the small opening that the partially opened door offered, and closing the door behind him. 

The door to the containment wing was in one of the outer labs, where there were mostly filing cabinets for some experiments that were probably not those of that really confidential stuff going on in some of the deeper labs, the ones requiring high security clearance to get into. 

After Akaashi closed the door behind him, he motioned for the pair of the scientists to follow him, raising a finger to his lips. When this was over, he would probably be more ashamed of how he so blatantly told the authority around there what to do, but at the moment, all he wanted was to get away without alerting Bokuto to the fact that something suspicious was going on. 

One of the scientists led the way, flashing an ID card at the scanner to let them into one of the deeper labs, where, based on information given by Mother on the tour, they were working on organizing information they had already managed to gather on the avian. 

The lab was a sterile white with dim lights. Most people in the compound would probably be disappointed to learn that the labs didn’t hold counters full of strange, delicate instruments and bubbling beakers full of strangely coloured liquids, but rather, just rows and rows of computers and large screens. 

“Well? What did you learn?” Mother asked. “You came back earlier than expected tonight. Is something the problem?” 

“You need to be quieter outside. Both of us heard you moving around just outside the containment wing, and he thought that I would be found if I stayed any longer. He still thinks I’m just some random human who’s not allowed in there, and that I might get in trouble if I was found. I didn’t want to make him suspicious, so I told him I’d run and come back when I could,” Akaashi said. 

“We weren’t talking,” one of the researches that had been outside the containment wing said. “I just accidentally knocked a book off a shelf.” 

“Well, the walls are probably just really thin.”

Mother raised an eyebrow. “No, they’re not. The walls aren’t exactly soundproofed, but they’re heavily insulated. We’ve tested the containment wing ourselves before using it. Nobody inside could hear what was going on outside unless there was something very noisy, such as a bookshelf falling over or the like,” she said. “This compound was built on a limited budget, I’ll admit, but we made sure that everything was functional, at least. We did do some...tests earlier today, and deduced that this species of creature perhaps has much sharper hearing than humans. Maybe this proves it.” 

“They call themselves avians,” Akaashi said, feeling a strange surge of annoyance rise in him. “And it wasn’t just Bokuto who heard it. I did too.” 

There was an awkward silence hanging in the air, until Mother cleared her throat. “Well, perhaps we miscalculated. Or maybe you just can hear better than most humans, Akaashi. Either way, we’ll try to be more quiet in the future, as to not raise suspicion.” 

“No, maybe it’s better if I just go in myself to talk to him, and just have everyone else stay in here, where you’re less likely to be heard,” Akaashi said, unsure of what he was saying but still wanting to make some difference. “You can access the microphone recordings, right? You don’t need to stay outside.”

“Or maybe we could change our angle with him,” Mother suggested. “Instead of having you say that you’re trying to stay hidden, we say that you were found but we still let you come visit him, because we thought that social interaction would be good for you.”

Akaashi thought back to the ease with which he talked to Bokuto with, and nodded. “That could work. But what makes you think that he won’t be suspicious with that?” 

“Because I’m sure he would like to see a friendly face, and would enjoy talking with you. He might even be desperate for some kindness, after everything he’s gone through. We’ve made sure of that.” 

Eyes narrowing, Akaashi asked, “What do you mean?” 

“Ah...we’ve left him alone in that cell for quite a while. He’d probably be desperate for some interaction.”

Right. That must be all, right? “And about that cell,” he began, thinking back to the excited energy in Bokuto’s voice as he spoke about flight, “maybe we could put him somewhere else? Somewhere with more room? I don’t think being stuck in such a small space is good for him.”

“...We’ll think about it,” Mother said slowly. 

Akaashi nodded. 

“And also, Akaashi?” a researcher called from across the room. “I’ve listened to the recordings, and noticed that you told him about us when you talked about airplanes. Why? Your mission is to try and get information out of him, not give him information so freely about us.” 

“Oh, well,” he muttered, “I thought that if I told him something about us, he’d be more eager to share about himself. After all, a good conversation is with both sides talking, right?” 

That was a lie. He’d told Bokuto about humans because for a minute, he had completely forgotten that he was meant to be info digging, not chatting. 

* * *

_He leaned back on his hands, tilting his head back to peer up. The sky above him was blue, a beautifully clear sky-blue, not a cloud in sight. A plane soared lazily overhead, the roar of its engines a quiet hum so far below it._

_“It’s called an airplane,” Mother said, sitting down next to Akaashi._

_“They can fly, even though they’re made of metal,” Father added. “Isn’t that amazing?”_

Yes, it is, _Akaashi tried to say, turning away from the sight above them to speak._

_A roar filled the air around them, rapidly growing louder and louder until it drowned out every other sound, and Akaashi looked up in alarm to see the plane descending from the sky startlingly quickly. He tried to get up, to flee and to get out of its path, but his limbs felt like lead._

_The plane crashed down on top of him, and then all he knew was pain, burning red-hot pain. Was it possible to feel pain in dreams? Well, now he knew._

_The sky was no longer visible, replaced by a sterile white ceiling. He was lying on some flat, hard surface, and pain unlike anything he could ever remember feeling was searing through his back._

_“It hurts, doesn’t it?” a voice dully asked, and Akaashi blearily turned his head to see Bokuto sitting on a chair beside the table he was lying on. Shock ran cold through him at his appearance, blood running down his face and highlighting his yellow eyes, spears and knives lodged in his wings, bleeding red all over the sterile white floor. His blood was vividly bright against that plain white floor, painting it a deep shade of red._

Akaashi shot upright, awake but caught in some strange threshold between dreaming and lucid. He thrashed madly against whatever was binding him for a few seconds, before he managed to catch a brief view of what was around him. His bedroom. He was tangled in his sheets, probably from tossing and turning while he was asleep.

The alarm clock read 3:15 AM, glowing a low red that was too reminiscent of the sight of Bokuto’s blood on the floor. He sighed, trying to force the muscles that had locked up in his fear-induced wakening to relax, and allowed himself to fall backwards onto the bed. 

That dream wasn’t like any other dream he had ever experienced before. It took him back to a jumbled, hazy recollection of memories. Memories that, according to his parents, were from when he was just waking up from the surgery that saved his life after the car crash. He didn’t remember much from those times other than wandering the white hallways of whatever hospital he was in, in some dull drug-induced state, brain muddled with painkillers. In most of his memories, his back hurt for some reason, particularly around his shoulder blades. Maybe his back had been injured in the crash, cut up with sharp pieces of metal or something. There was some light scarring on his back, but it was too faint for him to see clearly what the healed wounds looked like.

Around the time of the surgery must also have been when the chip was implanted in his arm, because he couldn’t remember not having that piece of plastic and metal in his arm, and because his left arm vaguely ached in some of those messy recollections. However, most of those messy memories were blurred by painkillers or time or some combination of both, and the few memories he did have were hazy at best. The first time he could remember being completely lucid since the accident was when he was already at the research compound with his new foster family. The compound was fairly new back then. It had only been built several years before Akaashi was born.

He had tried to ask questions about what his life was like before the accident, when he was younger. He only got vague responses, but he knew that his parents were friends of his foster parents, and they had stepped in to take care of him when no one else was around, not wanting him to end up at some orphanage or foster system. However, at some point during his prodding, they obviously seemed uncomfortable with his questions and answers were stilted, as if they didn’t want to answer them, and that was when they did answer his questions. Akaashi eventually learned to stop asking. This was his life now, it wasn’t going to change, so there wasn’t much point in dwelling on the past and what he couldn’t change. He was here now.

He turned over and pulled his blanket more securely over him. These dreams were getting out of hand, and he had no idea if he could even go back to sleep after what he had seen. Idly, he wondered if he was allowed to visit Bokuto in the middle of the night. After all, he had told him that he visited him because he had trouble sleeping, which wasn’t entirely a lie. Maybe the researchers would let him visit Bokuto late at night? He would be working, and plus, it would keep up his facade of being unable to sleep. Maybe he should ask them.

Judging by the clock on his bedside, it took at least half an hour for him to drift into something even remotely resembling sleep.

* * *

“We’ve thought about what you said regarding giving him a bigger space to move around, and we decided it was a good idea,” Mother said as they took another route through the hallways. “We repurposed one of the unused gyms into one large containment center. It took quite a bit, which was why we didn’t have the two of you meeting for the last few days. There’s a double-door system, as well as an entrance chamber, to ensure that he won’t be able to fly out. However, we weren’t able to install microphones in there. There are only a few cameras in there that were already installed before we refurbished the area. That means we’re counting on you to remember and report to us any information he might give, as we won’t be able to record anything. You’ll be able to actually go into the room, but you don’t need to worry. We have people ready to step in if he tries anything.” 

Akaashi hadn’t seen Bokuto for the last four days, and found that he was missing their late-night chats, even staged as they were. “I can do that. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to report exactly everything that he says, especially if he ends up info-dumping, but I’ll try my best,” he said. 

“We’re counting on you, Keiji,” Mother said, resting a hand on his shoulder. Akaashi paused. Even though they were his legal guardians, they used his surname more often than his given name. 

Not sure how he should be feeling, he gave a brisk nod before turning to step into the small antechamber, examining the walls around him. The small room was dark, with only one light on the ceiling providing illumination, and the doors were solid metal, with no windows. Unlocking the heavy deadbolt across the door, he hauled it open and stepped inside. 

“Akaashi!” Bokuto called, and Akaashi looked up to see Bokuto perched on the top platform of something that resembled construction scaffolds, placed beside a wall. There were several of the tower-like structures, placed all around the large room.

The new room was much nicer than the tiny cramped cell he had previously been in. The first thing Akaashi noticed, besides the vast difference in size, was the skylight built into the roof. Metal bars had been fit across the glass outside, but being able to see the sky was in itself a big improvement from his cell. But it was a cage, all the same. 

“Bokuto-san,” Akaashi said by way of greeting, scanning the scaffold for any way to climb up. Sure enough, he spotted a small ladder on the side, a thin, rickety thing that looked like it would snap if he tried to set foot on it. 

“You’ve been gone for the last four days,” Bokuto called down as Akaashi slowly made his way up the ladder. 

“I know.” The scaffold was built so that it had several levels built into the sides, and he had just climbed his way past the third one. A wariness of falling began to set in as he made his way higher and higher, and he made sure to grip the rungs tightly. The idea of falling off high places was something that he had grown uncomfortable with, especially after all the weird dreams. “By the way, they found out I was visiting you.” 

“What? How?” 

“I don’t know. But either way, they let me keep visiting you because they thought it was good for me. I don’t really get along with anyone else.” He kept his voice steady throughout the lie.

“Oh. Well, that’s great, right?” 

Slightly surprised that Bokuto didn’t bother to move from his perch on the top level to greet him, Akaashi reached the top of the ladder and pulled himself up onto the top platform, sitting across from Bokuto some distance away and making sure to keep a good distance between himself and the edge of the platform they were on. 

It seemed like Bokuto didn’t have any reservations when it came to heights and edges. He was sitting at the very far edge of the platform, letting his large wings dangle off the edge behind him. Although, judging by their size, Akaashi wasn’t sure if those wings would even fit in the vertical space between Bokuto’s back and the floor when he was sitting. 

“You...just sleep here?” Akaashi asked, gesturing to the piles of blankets thrown messily around the platform. “Why not on the bed?” He had noticed the small cot wedged in a corner of the gym, on the ground, stripped of its pillow and any blankets it might have had. 

Bokuto shrugged. “I always like sleeping off the ground. Besides, are all your beds like that?” 

“Like what?” 

“On stilts like that. Why don’t you just put the beds on the ground? Instead, you had to go through all the trouble of making stilts and then actually putting the bed on it.” He flared one wing out, motioning in the general direction of the bed. Akaashi actually startled, surprised at the sheer size of the wing and at the speed at which Bokuto moved. 

“Oh…I don’t know. They’ve...just always been like that?” There were a couple things that the question had raised. One, was that it seemed the avians usually slept on the floor, on mattresses or hell, maybe even birdnests. Two, was that he didn’t know why exactly the mattress was elevated. Maybe the person who designed bedframes decided it was better like that? So why didn’t they just put mattresses on the ground? Dammit, this was ridiculous. He was questioning bed design due to an avian being confused about human customs.

“Oh. Okay.” Bokuto let his wing drop, and Akaashi took his momentary silence to peer around the room, noting all the cameras and their positions. He then noticed that where the two of them were sitting was probably one of the most difficult places for the cameras to capture. Ah, well. The researchers would just have to deal with it, because he couldn’t be bothered moving at the moment. 

“So, is this any better than your old room?” Akaashi asked, inwardly cringing at his wording. 

Bokuto laughed. “You sound like a mom. But yeah, it’s much better.”

After taking a quick pause to survey the area again, Akaashi asked, “What do you even do to pass the time? It must be pretty boring here.” 

“Oh, not much. It is pretty boring.” He sighed, slumping over slightly. “I don’t really do much. Mostly just regret every stupid decision that led me to get captured.”

Swallowing, Akaashi asked, “Do you miss your family?” only to realize how stupid that sounded. 

Bokuto didn’t seem to mind, though, and he laughed again, harshly, and said, “Well, yeah.” He fell silent for a second, letting his hair fall forward and obscuring his eyes, before looking back up and asking “So, what’s it like here? Are all humans equipped with nets and spears to shoot unsuspecting folk out of the sky, or is it just you guys here?”

“Er, I think it’s just here,” Akaashi replied. That was actually a good point. Why did a remote research lab that was purposefully built away from other people have specialized weapons? “You flew into a really secure area that was meant to be kept secret from other people. There really aren't a lot of people here, especially compared to the larger towns and cities. This is literally one building in the middle of nowhere, where specialized workers do their stuff away from the rest of the world’s population.” 

“If this is some super-secret place for people to work, why are you here? You’re a kid. Or do humans let people as young as you work here?” Bokuto asked. 

“I don’t actually work here. I just live here. Because this is so far away from any civilization, most of the workers bring their own families to live with them here.” 

“So your family works here.” 

“Yeah. My foster parents.” Why was he sharing this? “They’re people that temporarily take care of children when their own parents aren’t able to,” Akaashi explained in case Bokuto didn’t understand.

“So where are your actual parents?”

“Dead.” 

Bokuto covered his mouth. “I’m sorry.” 

“Don’t be. I barely knew them.” 

He let his hand drop and paused for a moment, before asking, “Um, if you don’t mind, what happened to them? You don’t have to share if you don’t want to, though, I understand.” 

“I don’t mind.” Akaashi fidgeted with his fingers as he said, “So, you know how humans can’t fly, can’t travel far distances easily.” 

A vigorous nod. 

“Well, we have these things called cars, and we use them to travel across distances that would be too far to walk or run. They’re made of metal and move at fast speeds, but they’re big and pretty heavy. They can be pretty dangerous. What happened is that one night, I was riding in one of them with my birth parents, when we crashed into another car. Both of my parents were killed in the crash, but I survived. Apparently, the crash gave me head trauma, which is why I don’t remember a thing about the crash or anything that came before it.” 

Bokuto paused, then said, “I’m so sorry. How old were you?” 

“Four years old. Or so they tell me. Like I said, I don’t remember anything. Everything I supposedly know is just stuff I was told.” Akaashi paused his fidgeting to scratch at his arm, where the chip was implanted in the soft skin of his inner arm, near the elbow. The skin around the chip sometimes itched. 

“Oh. But you’re okay, now, right? Nothing else that’s going to put your life in danger?” 

Was it wise of him to share this? Probably not, but Bokuto seemed like a friend. So maybe it wouldn’t be such a problem for him to know. “Well, there is one another thing,” Akaashi said.

“What?” 

“It’s just some disease I have,” he said. “It’s chronic, and it won’t go away. The people here say it’s potentially deadly, so I have to keep taking medicine for it. It also doesn’t show symptoms, because I’m constantly taking medication. And apparently, as long as I keep it up, it won’t impact me at all. So nothing to worry about.” In a blind headfirst plunge of trust, Akaashi pulled up his sleeve to reveal the grey chip embedded in his arm, and Bokuto gasped. “They use this to keep track of me, in case anything disease-related happens to me. It apparently also helps with regulating my blood levels or something to help with keeping symptoms under control. They never really explained it to me. But don’t worry, it doesn’t hurt.”

“Well, if you say so,” Bokuto answered, although he did look slightly worried. 

The conversation was brought to a quiet lull again, and then Akaashi found himself asking, “Can you fly, here?” When Bokuto looked at him in a mix of surprise and confusion, he explained, “It’s just…I’ve never actually seen you fly before. Even when I first saw you, I never actually saw you flying before being shot.” That explanation did little to tamper the embarrassment of asking such a thing, and Akaashi found himself instinctively lowering his head slightly. 

“Nah, it’s okay. I’ll fly, if you insist.” 

Then, Bokuto threw himself backwards off the platform without any warning. 

“Bokuto-san!” The wave of shock and fear that crashed through him felt so intense that Akaashi almost felt his heart stop. 

A wild laugh sounded through the room, sounding almost joyful, and Bokuto shot up into the air like a rocket, large wings spread out to their full length. And much to his surprise, Akaashi found that he couldn’t hear any wingbeats at all. Despite the fact that Bokuto tended to be loud, it turned out he was a silent flier. 

He wasn’t sure how much time passed as he watched Bokuto soar in lazy loops high up in the air, occasionally softly beating his wings. And as the ceiling lights turned off and the emergency lights came on, signalling lights out, the soft yellow light illuminated his starkly contrasting black and white feathers, gold eyes glowing softly in the low light. He looked every bit like he belonged in the open air.

_You don’t belong in this cage. You belong high up in open air, flying free._

Akaashi had practically frozen at the sight of Bokuto flying, so when he finally glided down and landed lightly on the edge of the platform, he had to try and remember what it felt like to move again.

“So, how was that, Akaashi?” he asked, folding his wings behind him. 

“You...can fly without making noise?” was the only thing Akaashi could say. 

“Yeah! I’m an owl avian. We can fly silently, like owls.” Bokuto paused for a few seconds before asking, “You know what owls are, right? You have them around here?”

“I know what owls are, and yes, we do have them around. Not here, exactly, but around certain parts of the world.” His tone sounded vaguely dull, like he was shell-shocked. Not that it was much of a surprise. _I wish I could fly like that._

Bokuto cocked his head to one side, seeming to observe him. Before he could even realize what had happened, Bokuto had darted across the platform and was behind him in the blink of an eye, hooked his arms around Akaashi’s chest, and threw himself over the side of the platform, this time carrying Akaashi with him. 

Akaashi let out an undignified scream as the ground rushed up towards them and he was seized up by that terrible sensation of falling that shouldn’t be so familiar but was. But before they could hit the ground, there was a faintly audible sound of air churning around beating owl wings and they were rising, the world careening madly around them. 

Bokuto’s grip on him was firm, arms digging into Akaashi’s front, but due to the position they were in, there was nothing for Akaashi to hold onto, leaving him to do nothing but trust Bokuto. It was an extremely awkward position, with most of his back pressed to Bokuto’s front and his legs dangling down in midair. What didn’t help was that it felt like they were being thrown wildly around the room, not anything like the fast, steady flight Akaashi always imagined. 

“Relax, Akaashi! I won’t drop you!” 

“Easy for you to say!” But soon enough, their flight evened out, and then they were soaring in lazy circles. 

Akaashi used to imagine what it was like to fly. Lately, he had been having strange dreams about flying. He couldn’t remember most of them that clearly, but he thought that he enjoyed it. 

And this - actually experiencing flight was something else entirely. 

Sure, he was just a passenger instead of the one flying, but it didn’t matter. He was suspended and soaring freely in midair, held up by nothing but a pair of flesh-and-blood wings and the air beneath them. 

The air blowing into his face was fast and cold, but it didn’t sting his eyes. Maybe it was just him being more resistant to winds than anyone else in the lab, which had been a thing of vague interest, whenever he was unaffected by powerful winds when the students were out of the compound on a field trip. Keeping his eyes wide open, he turned his head to peer at the plain walls moving past them. 

A gasp escaped his lips when he felt his entire body tilt to one side as Bokuto performed a slow banking turn to avoid crashing into a wall, the entire world seeming to list to one side before righting itself as their flight evened out once again. 

They were completely silent, and he had no idea if that helped the experience or not. Silence meant that there was nothing to distract Akaashi from every wingbeat, every slightly uneven pocket of air that caused bumps in their flight, and nothing from the warmth of Bokuto above him. 

He had no idea for how long exactly they were flying, but it might be because his mind was too overwhelmed with shock and awe to do anything but stare in wonder at the sight around him. It could almost be something from a dream (a peaceful dream where he would be disappointed to wake up from to see the chaos of real life), where they flew silently and slowly in a dimly lit open space, lit with low yellow lights that might be able to simulate some form of indoor dusk. When Bokuto turned and gently lighted down on the platform, depositing Akaashi on the floor of the platform, it felt like every limb had forgotten to move, paralyzed in awe.

“So? Did you have fun?” Bokuto asked, sending Akaashi a jaunty grin as he folded his wings behind his back. 

“I have no words,” Akaashi said. Portraying any sort of inflection in his voice was beyond him at the moment. “I will never enjoy any other form of travel again.” 

“Aw, so you liked it?” 

“Yeah. I really did.” Akaashi stood up, legs wobbling slightly. 

“If you want, we can do that again some other night!”

“Don’t strain yourself. I don’t want you to hurt yourself.” 

“Eh, it’s not a problem. You’re surprisingly light.” Bokuto shrugged. A glint of alarm flashed in his eyes and he then asked, worry evident in his tone, “Are you okay? You’re not being starved or something, right?”

Ah. “No, I’m not. Don’t worry about me, Bokuto-san,” Akaashi answered. “Me being this light is just another symptom of the disease, according to the doctors here. They said that they could never figure what exactly was causing it. I’m not malnourished or anything, and it doesn’t affect my physical abilities. But they said it shouldn’t cause problems in later life, so nothing to worry about that either.” And all of that was true. When he was younger, the scientists used to run tests on him, pulling him out of classes to perform checkups on him. Once it was clear that nothing was going to change and that it wasn’t visibly harming him, they let him go to live something of a normal life, minus the lost memories and the chip in his arm and the yearly checks on his health.

“Oh. It’s just...you have all these things about you...and I’m actually kinda worried for you,” Bokuto said, and then looked away. 

“No, like I said, don’t worry about me. If it’s any consolation, everyone here says I’m very lucky to be this unaffected by the disease, as long as I keep taking my medication and report any changes. And what’s also pretty strange about me is that I heal pretty quickly from any injuries or illnesses I get,” Akaashi replied. That was actually pretty strange about him, given the illness and former injuries. But he wasn’t complaining.

“Oh. That’s...you’re actually pretty lucky. Sorry, if I seemed rude, though!” He ruffled up his feathers as his wings shifted to the side.

“You weren’t, don’t worry-” Akaashi said, breaking off when he saw first a wince cross Bokuto’s face, then a flash of dark red-brown on the back of one of Bokuto’s wings as he refolded them behind him. “What’s that?” 

_Blood running in rivulets down his face, knives and spears lodged in his wings, the blood contrasting drastically against the white floor-_

“Uh-” 

“No, let me see.” He stalked forward, momentarily forgetting that they were standing on an elevated platform made of thin wood planks, held up only by thin metal stilts. 

“Don’t worry, it’s nothing-” Bokuto tried to pull away, but he didn’t seem to expect Akaashi to run forward and grip his wing, wrenching it forward to examine it. And while it turned out that the undersides of his wings were clean and free of injury, the backs of his wings were a completely different story. 

The first thing he registered was that there were missing feathers. Some were blackened and burnt, and some looked like they had been shorn in half. There were burn marks crisscrossing Bokuto’s wing, along with several long half-healed gashes that stained his feathers red, and then brown as the blood dried. Several other long burn marks raked across his wing, sometimes overlapping the gashes. The flesh visible was a rotten dark red-brown, as if it had been healing for a while already, but that did nothing to reassure Akaashi. The whole end result was a horrifying mess that was impossible to look away from despite how disturbing it was. It didn’t help that there were similar wounds on his other wing as well.

(The second thing that he registered in some calm, detached part of his brain that wasn’t currently worrying was that the undamaged feathers his hands were currently buried in - it was a very thick layer of feathers - were exceedingly soft and warm.) 

“What is this? Who did this?” Akaashi demanded as he tore his eyes away to find Bokuto’s face, something protective flaring in him and pouring out of his eyes and throat like lava. (There was something at the back of his brain, nagging and nagging, but he pushed it away. They wouldn’t do that, would they? And either way, Bokuto still had to tell him what was wrong.) 

“I’m okay, don’t worry about me-” Bokuto tried to pull away, but either his injuries were weakening him more than he expected or he wasn’t prepared for the strength Akaashi was gripping him with, because he didn’t get far. Akaashi’s hold on him didn’t loosen in the slightest.

“No, you’re not. Someone did this to you while you were here in this building. I don’t recall this being here when I first met you.” 

“On the night when I was shot out of the sky or on the night you snuck into the cell I was in to make small talk with me?” The joke fell flat.

“This isn’t funny. Please, Bokuto-san.” He tried to soften his voice, but even that wasn’t easy with the panic and fierce protectiveness clouding his brain. 

“But will you believe me?” 

“I’ll decide whether or not to believe you only after you tell me what happened.”

Bokuto slumped over, seeming to turn his words over in his head. “It was some of the humans here,” he finally said, practically whispering. Something in Akaashi’s chest dried up at the sight. “They wouldn’t tell me why they were doing it. All they said was that they needed to know all this about me. Even before you started coming here to talk to me, they were always asking me about myself, about my home. And one day, they started asking me those questions again, but when I refused to answer that time…” He waved a hand vaguely at the injured wing. 

Akaashi felt like vomiting. “What else? What else can you tell me?” he demanded, that panicked, protective aggression rising back into his voice. (His suspicions were confirmed.) 

He shrugged. “Not much else. All the humans there were wearing white coats.”

No. Did they really torture him? Even after they told him that they wouldn’t, because he had volunteered to go another route to fetch the information they desperately needed? Did they just not care about Bokuto, or were they just that worried that Akaashi wouldn’t be able to work fast enough? 

“I’ll do something. I’ll talk to them, I’ll do something, I’ll find a way-” 

“Akaashi! Calm down. Listen. It won’t kill me. I told you, avians heal fast. It’ll hurt, but it won’t kill me. I can take it.”

“Can you? Can you really, Bokuto-san?” Akaashi snapped, panic making him cold. “It doesn’t even bother you in the slightest that they’re doing something this cruel to you? Hey. Listen to me. Did they do anything else to you? Tell me. You can tell me anything.” 

“No. They didn’t do anything else.” 

Had Akaashi become so good of a liar in the past few days that he could even tell when someone else was lying, or was it just because Bokuto tended to be messy with his emotions, making him a bad liar? But it didn’t matter either way. “Bokuto-san, you’re lying.” 

“Am I?” 

Akaashi glared at him. “I can tell. _What did they do?_ ” 

Yellow eyes met green, seeming to size each other up. The yellow eyes were the first to flick away. 

“For the past five days. There wasn’t any pattern to when or how they would do it,” Bokuto finally said. “They would ask me, and when I wouldn’t answer, they’d…” He looked away so that Akaashi couldn’t see his face. 

“Where?” Akaashi asked as he softened his voice. 

“On my wings, obviously. After the first day, they started targeting my back or ribs,” Bokuto said haltingly, breath starting to come in short gasps. That wasn’t unnoticed by Akaashi, who blinked in alarm. “And they said that if I didn’t give them answers, they’d keep this going on and on and that they would cut off my wings and oh god I’m so scared-” 

“Bokuto-san!” 

Alarm was rising rapidly in him as Akaashi watched Bokuto whip away from him as he was frozen in fear. In the near silent room, Akaashi could hear every breath rasping in and out, painfully fast. Hands came up to tangle in that messy black and white hair, pulling it every which way. 

“They said it would keep going on and that I had to tell them anything and I won’t survive I’ll die and then they’ll come after my home and my family what can I do-” 

The feathers on Bokuto’s wings seemed to lie even flatter on his wings than they were before, until he looked smaller than he was before. When Bokuto reached the other end of the platform, he whipped around to pace back the other way, rambling the entire time, and it brought his face into Akaashi’s view. 

The sight of his eyes made Akaashi freeze. 

_He looks scared._

That same expression of fear and near desperation Akaashi had seen when he had been first speared through the wings and netted, the one where he had told himself that he never wanted to see again, was back again in those eyes. When those yellow eyes, filled with fear, met his, he found himself moving forward. 

Akaashi reached out to rest a hand on Bokuto’s wing to comfort him, and found himself being shoved away with surprising strength. 

_“Don’t touch me!”_

_He’s having a panic attack. Calm down. It won’t do either of you any good if you work yourself into a panic too._ In some rational part of his mind that hadn’t been overwhelmed by worry and thoughts of _oh god what do I do,_ thoughts on what to do filtered through his head. 

Steeling himself and bracing to be thrown away again, Akaashi flung himself forward and slammed into Bokuto’s back, squishing himself straight up against those warm feathered wings and wrapping an arm around him in some parody of a hug. 

“Bokuto-san! Calm down. I’m not going to hurt you.” He kept up some mantra of the same things, rambling and paraphrasing the same things over and over again and stroking Bokuto’s feathers lightly with one hand until he felt Bokuto start to relax. 

“I’m cold, Akaashi,” was the first thing that Bokuto said in a while, faintly. 

“You’ll be okay,” Akaashi said, almost automatically, as he guided both of them over to the side of the platform closest to the wall, pushing Bokuto down, snatching up the nearest blanket, a thick dark blue one, and throwing it over him as best as he could with Bokuto’s wings splayed to the side. And it turned out, their sheer size made it literally impossible to fold them behind them when he was sitting on the floor. He then sat down beside and slightly behind him, one hand still running over those soft feathers. 

With no clock in the room, there was no way to tell passing time. All Akaashi knew was that they were sitting there in silence for a while. He was still idly petting Bokuto’s wing. 

“I’m sorry,” Bokuto finally said, voice slightly hoarse. He didn’t look directly at Akaashi. “You didn’t need to do that.”

“Of course I did.” Now that Bokuto seemed to be okay, Akaashi allowed his mind to drift. And it landed on what Bokuto had said, and a slow anger began to rise, creeping upwards like rising lava. 

“No, you didn’t. I told you, we say that humans are monsters. That they kill and torture and destroy and do anything they do to get what they want, and that they wouldn’t even care about all the damage that they caused. Maybe that’s true. But I don’t think all of it is.” 

“You’re right. Not all of it is,” Akaashi said, trying to keep his voice calm and firm. “I didn’t know about this, I swear. But I’m now going to do absolutely everything I can to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”

“How?” This time, Bokuto lifted his head to peer at Akaashi. 

“I don’t know. Maybe it might not even work. But I’ll do what I can.” What he could do wasn’t very assuring. The only thing he could really do in this case was go straight to the other researchers he was working with to try and plead with them to spare him. But then again, they were the ones who tortured him without even bothering to notify Akaashi. 

“You-you said that avians heal quickly, right?” Akaashi asked, remembering what Bokuto had told him. 

“Yeah. We can also regenerate limbs and heal really quickly from getting sick, so don’t worry too much about infection. Burns heal pretty easily too. Feathers will also grow back pretty fast.”

Regenerating limbs? That was actually pretty impressive. That clearly meant that these avians were much better at recovering in injury than humans. But judging by what Akaashi had just seen, they had more problems than physical injury. “No, I’m worrying because it’s obviously hurting you on another level than just the surface.” He sighed. “How quickly do you think you can recover from this?” He gestured to his wings, one hand still buried in the feathers of one wing. 

“About a day. Maybe a couple days. But it’s not like it matters, because the humans will just be back to slice them back up again.”

 _Not if I have a say in it._ Those words hung silently in the air between them. Akaashi let the subject drop, despite the memory of those horrific burns and cuts and the panic attack branded in his mind, and turned his body to the side so that he was facing the wings splayed out behind Bokuto. 

“Do you avians have some way of grooming your feathers? To keep them clean?” Akaashi asked. “Can you even reach all the way behind you to clean your wings?”

“‘Course we do. But don’t bother. I told you, don’t worry too much about infection. And either way, they’ll just get dirty again,” Bokuto said.

“But what if I want to?” 

A long pause hovered around them, before Bokuto said slightly awkwardly, “Then you’d need some water. Soap and some kind of comb would also be best, but you don’t really need them. You can use your hands. I was exploring the room earlier, and I found what I’m guessing is a bathtub, through that side door over there.” He jerked his head in its vague direction, and Akaashi followed his motion to see what probably was the door to what used to be the change rooms. “But there’s nothing in there, no water. There’s also this weird tube above the tub, whatever that’s supposed to be.”

Akaashi wasn’t really listening by then, listing down everything that Bokuto had mentioned. Soap. Comb. Probably some kind of towel to dry off, and a cup for pouring water. Alright. 

“Stay there. I’ll be right back,” Akaashi said briskly, before getting up and walking quickly over to the ladder. He was slower descending the ladder, careful not to make a misstep or slip or fall off. When he finally reached solid ground, he broke off into a run towards the front door. 

The inner door was still unlocked, and he closed it behind him and locked it before banging on the outer door for the researchers to let him out. He dodged their questions, talking over them and listing the materials he needed. 

After a short debate on what he was doing, Akaashi was eventually given permission to get what he needed. A couple researchers guided him around the storerooms until he found what he was after. Once he had gathered up all the supplies he was looking for, he ran back into the containment room. 

It took a little convincing, but he eventually managed to persuade Bokuto into getting down from his perch and following him into the side door. Upon observation of the change room, he could tell that the old faucets, showerheads, electrical sockets, and drains were boarded up pretty well. The only things that seemed to be operational were the lights and utilities, and one bathtub as Bokuto had described. 

Akaashi motioned for Bokuto to sit down on the edge of the tub, back to the tub and wings spilling out behind him and resting in the tub, and moved to crouch in the tub. He reached out and turned the handle of the faucet, and after some spluttering, a small, clear stream of water poured out.

“Whoa. How does that work?” 

“A lot of different things contribute to make it work. To be honest, I don’t know everything myself.” Deciding that a basic explanation of things wouldn’t hurt, Akaashi then added, “That’s a faucet. You turn it, and water comes out. Depending on how far you turn it to each side, the water will be a different temperature. You can also push at this drain to stopper the water, but I wouldn’t suggest sitting down in this bathtub. It doesn’t look that clean.” After a short conplemplative pause, Akaashi asked, “The workers here never explained this to you?”

“No. They just threw me in here and just said that I was being moved from my old cage. I didn’t bother to question them, especially after…” He waved a hand behind him at his wounded wings. “Who among you humans discovered this?”

“I...don’t know. It’s been around for so long that we don’t question it. How come you don’t have things like these?” So these avians didn’t have things like plumbing? 

Bokuto paused before saying, “Resources are hard to come by where I live. Very limited. Can’t waste anything on things like these. We already have our own ways of doing things, anyway.”

Nodding as he committed his words to memory, Akaashi picked up the bar of soap, wetting it under the stream of water and turning it over in his hands until they were covered in lather. He then reached out and took one wing in his hands, running his fingers down the grimy feathers and making sure to get the suds over the entire wing. Silence then fell around them, but unlike the awkward lulls in forced conversation like when they first met in the containment wing, this was a more comfortable quiet that blanketed the area around them. 

Avians really did have large wings, didn’t they? Akaashi had never really noticed just how much space they took up and just how much muscle and feather there was until he was standing behind one, trying to clean dried blood out of matted feathers. It was slow going, especially as he froze every time he heard a hiss of pain from Bokuto, who proceeded to wave him onwards, insisting that he was okay. 

After he had gotten the soap over most of one wing, he then rinsed it out with the cup he had brought for this purpose. The soap suds, once a clean white, came away a rusty red-brown with dried blood. 

Once he managed to get one wing clean of blood and soap, he said, “Alright, that one’s done. The other one.” 

Complying, Bokuto turned slightly so Akaashi could better access his other wing. Akaashi then repeated the long and thorough process he used with his other wing, cleaning off the dust and blood and grime off the feathers. His arms and legs were starting to ache from the continuous work, along with continuously standing up and crouching back down to better access parts of the wing. 

When both of his wings were finally clean, Akaashi stood up, the muscles in his legs protesting, and said, “That’s both of them. You said that you had other injuries on your back and ribs. Do you need help cleaning those?” 

“I hoped that you’d forget about that. You really don’t miss anything, huh?” Bokuto shook his head. “I’m okay. Thanks.”

“If you say so.” He made a mental note to look up signs of infection on the Internet and to check for them the next time he came back. “How did you stand to be flying around with wounds like those? Didn’t it hurt?”

“Yeah, of course it did. But not that much more than it did when I was sitting still.”

Heart sinking, Akaashi motioned for Bokuto to stand up so he could towel off his wings, which he did. As part of the researchers’ requests, he had to take everything he brought inside with him back out, so he gathered up the used materials and followed Bokuto out of the bathroom. He noted with satisfaction that his wings looked much more manageable, cleaned of most of the blood and dirt.

“Bokuto-san,” Akaashi said, stopping in the middle of the containment room. “I have to go, but I’ll be back as soon as possible. If anything happens, you have to let me know, okay?” 

“Okay.” As he said that, alarm then crossed Bokuto’s eyes. “Wait, you won’t get in trouble for this, right? For helping me?”

Why was he not surprised that Bokuto was more concerned about the fact that Akaashi would get into trouble than his own well-being? “I probably won’t,” he said, although he didn’t know for sure. “Don’t worry about me.” 

When he exited the room, he deposited everything he was holding onto a small side table in the antechamber before storming out of the room. A small team of researchers were already gathered outside the antechamber, including his mother.

“Why?” was the first thing Akaashi said. “Why did you do that to him? Why did you purposefully cut him only to cauterize them again?”

Mother sighed, looking tired, and said, “We needed information. Even with you working, we wanted to see if we could get it done quicker.”

“But I’m making progress.” The anger that had been pushed back to make room for concern while Akaashi was cleaning Bokuto’s wings started rising again, scalding his throat. He kept his voice contained as he said, “I’m sure I can get somewhere. You didn’t need to do that. You shouldn’t have done that.”

“We know that,” said Father as he approached them, motioning for them to walk. As they turned to head away from the containment room and into the labs, he added “But there was no other choice. Besides, this kind of thing is still being done in the world, right?”

“That’s not the point! The point is that you shouldn’t have tortured him!” Akaashi fought to keep his voice under control. Seeing as this probably wouldn’t lead anywhere, he switched his angle, asking, “You couldn’t even inform me?”

“I don’t think you understand how dire the situation we’re in is,” Father said. “What’s more, we always just thought you would figure it out yourself when you saw the avian for yourself. We didn’t expect you to be so angry over it, that’s all. Even though the more forceful methods of interrogation haven’t yielded results yet, it’s still helping you.”

“How is this helping me!?” 

“Because it’s establishing to the avian that most of the humans here aren’t very kind, and that he most likely won’t be addressed to as a friend. But that’s where you come in. If you take a kinder approach to the avian, it might be easier for you to get information as he’ll probably be more desperate for any form of kindness, and will be more willing to reveal information to you.”

“And of course, you’ll be reporting it to us,” Mother said calmly. “With this more varied approach, it might be faster than just going one way.”

Feeling sick, Akaashi said, “You’re not going to stop, even though you see what the damage you’re causing? You’re not even worried you might kill him?”

“We saw how quickly the avian healed from the spears fired when he was first detained,” Father said. “We hoped that he might be able to recover from this quickly, too. Did you get any confirmation from him?”

“Well, he did say that avians heal fast and can even regenerate limbs,” Akaashi said, then immediately regretted it. They might intensify what torture methods they were already using on him, now that they knew how much he could survive.

“That’s very nice to know.” 

“But you’re not concerned? I just saw him have a panic attack. This can’t be good for his mental health.” 

“You were there to help him, weren’t you?” Mother asked. “Listen, we’re not happy about this either. But we need results.” 

“You’re not going to stop!?”

“We can’t. We can slow it down, but we won’t be able to completely stop. We can’t risk anything that might get in the way of progress.”

He gritted his teeth. All this pain, in the name of progress? 

“You’ve been doing great, Keiji,” Father said. “We’ll try and slow it down, but just know that we won’t be able to stop and that we’ll be conducting many other tests.”

Akaashi opened his mouth to protest, but they had already moved on, leaving him behind.

* * *

When the door to this new cage opened that evening and Akaashi stepped inside, he froze upon seeing him. Bokuto grinned. He had managed to push his hair up into a style somewhat close to resembling the owl horns he usually had before being shot out of the sky by humans.

“Your hair…” Akaashi said.

“This is how it’s supposed to look like. Or how I like it to look,” Bokuto replied, still grinning. 

Akaashi stared up at him for a few seconds before shaking his head and heading to climb up the ladder leading up to where he was perched. Bokuto noted that Akaashi still seemed tense around heights or rickety ladders, gripping each rung tightly as he climbed. 

When he hauled himself up onto the platform and moved to sit down in front of Bokuto, he paused and said, “Your wings look better than before, Bokuto-san.” 

They felt better too, which was probably helped by the fact that he hadn’t been dragged out of his cage to be cut up and burned back together that day, wounds being given a respite to heal. “Yeah, thanks to you!” 

A fleeting smile crossed Akaashi’s face, and Bokuto felt his heart almost stop. Then it was gone, but he knew that he’d try and get him to smile again. It was a good look on Akaashi. 

“So, what are you here to talk about tonight?” he asked. 

Akaashi shrugged and said, “I don’t know. Is there anything you’d like to talk about?”

The memory of the night before flashed through his head, Akaashi’s vehement concern and the all-encompassing fear that pulsed through him. They probably should be talking about that. Probably not now, though. It felt far too peaceful at the moment.

“What creates those lights?” Bokuto asked instead, and pointed up at the ceiling, where stark lights were embedded. “It’s not fire, or any other kind of light production we use.”

“Electricity. You don’t know what that is? You don’t have that where you’re from?” Akaashi asked. 

“No. Like I said, too limited resources.” And that was true. On floating islands, there was only so much that could be harvested without seriously damaging the island’s structure and environment. Metals were hard to come by, but given by what he had seen here, it was plentiful on the ground. He also had never even heard of electricity before. 

“It’s hard to explain what it is. We’ve also become used to it? It’s...a form of energy that can be used to power almost anything. It can be used to make light, create heat, make noise...all sorts of things.” Akaashi huffed out a sound that sounded a bit like an exasperated laugh. “You’d have to live here for quite a while to understand just how it works.” 

“Oh. That sounds...pretty cool, actually.”

“We’ve actually become really dependent on electricity. It’s used for practically everything. How do you survive without electricity?” He now sounded genuinely curious. 

Bokuto hesitated, wondering just how much he could trust Akaashi with. As if reading his mind, Akaashi then added, “I’m just curious. I won’t try and...use this against you or something.”

Concern-filled green eyes, uncharacteristically wild with worry, flashed through his head. 

Besides, when would he get another chance to to speak with a human that didn’t want to torture or kill him? 

“Well, we use fires for warmth and light. Glowworm lanterns, too, but they’re only around for the warmer seasons. In winter, we use mostly fire, but even that’s hard to come by. But then again, we don’t really need that much light to see well. As avians in general, we have good eyesight, but owl avians also have good night vision.” 

“So...you just fly around without needing much light?” Akaashi’s eyes looked wider than usual. “How do you stay warm in winter, then?”

“Small fires in fireplaces, although we also have some larger bonfires stationed around the island. Cuddle piles also work.” 

“Island? You said ‘too close to the ground’ before...do you live on a floating island in the sky?” His voice was hushed, as if not daring to believe it.

Well, shit. 

“You’re perceptive, aren’t you?” Bokuto asked instead of answering. 

“Well, I guess,” Akaashi said, looking almost embarrassed. “But it’s true, then. You really live on a floating island in the sky. It makes sense, given everything you’ve said so far. The only thing I haven’t really figured out is how we haven’t found any trace of you avians, after exploring the earth for so long.”

“We have our ways of staying hidden.”

“It seems so.” Akaashi leaned forward slightly. “What’s it like up there?”

“Why do you want to know?” Everything he had learned was warning him to keep silent, to not give away anything about the avians, but his instincts told him Akaashi wasn’t a threat.

“Bokuto-san. I’ve been living in this remote compound for almost my entire life. I’ve only left a few times before, and even then, I didn’t travel that far. Everything I know about the outside world is just stuff I’ve heard about or seen in pictures.” It was a small change in his eyes, a spark of curiosity, but it made his gaze look so different from the flat, apathetic stare he usually had. “And now I hear that there’s a whole new world I’ve never even heard of. You can’t blame me for being curious. What’s it like up there?”

Why was he doing this? “The island I live on is one of many many other avian-inhabited islands in the sky,” Bokuto said. 

“What are they all like? And how many are there?”

“Many islands, as well as islands where no one lives. But the five biggest islands are Karasuno, Nekoma, Aoba Johsai, Fukurodani, where I live, and Shiratorizawa, the capital of the avians.” Oh god, why was he doing this? Why was he telling a human about avians, and why wasn’t he lying to try and protect them? Why was he telling the truth?

“How do you travel from island to island? Are they far from each other, or quite close?”

“Well, the islands don’t stay in one place. They drift. And that’s another way we count years. The islands move in a pattern that repeats once each year.” Why was he telling him this? Was it just Akaashi, who made it feel like a casual conversation between friends? “We fly between islands in teams to travel between them, although most people prefer to stay on their home island. It’s dangerous out in the open sky.”

“Why? Because it’s easy to get lost?” 

“Along with other dangers like storms. Which is why we only travel between islands when we absolutely need to, and even then, only teams of trained specialists can.” 

“So if your island is so far away and only people that are trained to fly out into open sky are allowed to leave the islands, why were you flying so close to the ground?” Akaashi asked, and then alarm crossed his eyes. “You weren’t thrown over the edge of the island by that storm, or something?”

“No, of course not! Most people can fly through storms without much trouble, and even the kids or elderly who can’t fly are usually kept away from the edge. If they do fall, other avians sometimes catch them.” 

“But has anyone who couldn’t fly fallen over the edge?”

“Yeah, but it’s very rare,” Bokuto said. “The last time it happened was when this...four year-old or something that was carried away by the barrier winds about thirteen or fourteen years ago.”

“The barrier winds?” Akaashi’s eyes were surprisingly bright with curiosity.

“Winds that blow around the island and surround it. They’re always particularly violent at this time of year, hard to fly through and sometimes throwing avians off the edge of the island. There have been close calls where avians were almost lost, but they were always caught.”

“So you weren’t accidentally blown away by the winds. So what were you doing here?”

Bokuto suppressed a sigh. “I was part of a Scout training group. Scouts have the job of flying out from the island to scout out the area for storms and stuff, and most teams that leave islands always have at least a few Scouts with them, because they know how to fly through storms, know how to navigate. Everyone who has a job of flying out from the island knows how to survive out there, but Scouts are among the best.” He plucked at the Scout uniform he was still wearing, filthy with dried blood and grime. It felt like he at least had some connection to his home when he had it on. 

“That sounds amazing,” Akaashi said softly.

“The dangers of the sky?” 

“Remember, I’ve barely left this compound. And I...think that it would look beautiful. The open sky with nothing obstructing the view, and a landscape of clouds below?” Seeming to realize what he had said, Akaashi looked away for a few seconds before saying quietly, “I almost envy you, Bokuto-san.”

“Why do you always add on the ‘san’ to my name?” Bokuto asked instead of answering. 

“It’s a formal honorific.”

“Oh.” 

The conversation was brought to a lull, and then Akaashi then asked, “What’s Scout training like?”

He laughed. What he wouldn’t give to be in Scout training right now, as tough as it was. “Difficult. But it’s fun. We spend all day flying, taking classes in navigation and survival and combat and the like.”

“Combat?”

“Well, not everything in the sky is friendly. There are other animals than avians living there.” 

“Oh. I didn’t think of that.” He paused, then asked, “When did you start training? When do avians in general even start learning how to fly?”

“Most avians start learning as kids, around five or six years old? But even before then, they still know how to glide even if they can’t really fly, starting to glide at about three or four.” He reached over to fiddle with the corner of a blanket. “As for me, I started Scout training at the sign-up age, fifteen.” Dropping the blanket, he moved to rest his chin on a hand. “So enough about me. What about you?”

Over the course of that evening, he learned more about humans than he had ever expected to. And for some reason, despite that Akaashi now knew about his home and about avians, it didn’t seem like a particularly big threat. It felt more getting to know each other than anything else. 

When Akaashi then stood up to leave, he asked, “You’re okay, right? They didn’t do anything to you?” 

“Not today, no.”

He nodded, mouth pressed into a thin line. “I wasn’t able to get their promise that they would stop,” he said. It wasn’t a surprise that he couldn’t, but Bokuto’s heart sank either way. “They said they would keep going. I’ll try again, but I’m so sorry, Bokuto-san.” 

“Hey. It’s not your fault.”

“Maybe, but I still feel guilty.” He hesitated, turning back for a second, then said, “Take care.”

* * *

“Did he say anything?” It had become routine for them to ask him that every time he stepped out of the containment wing. But this time, Akaashi actually did have something that could be valuable to them.

“A little. He talked about his home,” he said. He had no idea how much of it was lies, but what Bokuto said all seemed to fit together. 

“Did he give any specifics?”

Akaashi began to speak, then paused for a brief second. The memory of Bokuto’s slashed and burned wings and panic attack replayed behind his eyes.

_(“We have stories about humans. Horror stories...”)_

“He didn’t say that much, but he said that the area surrounding his general hometown was very dangerous. Given how he described it, he was very lucky to have survived the journey here, and even luckier still to have been uninjured.”

“Did he say anything else?” 

_(“I told you, we say that humans are monsters. ...Maybe that’s true. But I don’t think all of it is.”)_

_(“We can’t risk anything that might get in the way of progress.”)_

“No. That was about it. He didn’t say anything else,” Akaashi said firmly, voice steady. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If there's anything inaccurate or triggering about the panic attack scene, please let me know as it's the first time I've written something like this.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings for more torture and violence 
> 
> Also warnings for inaccurate science and inaccurate information about generators and electricity systems that I literally just word-vomited onto the chapter after a 5-minute search on generators
> 
> I'm also sorry for how awkward a couple scenes turned out but I couldn't find ways to make them less awkward

_On the heels of war and wonder_

_There's a stormy world up there_

_You can't whisper above the thunder_

_But you can fly anywhere_

_Purple burst of paper birds_

_This picture paints a thousand words_

_So take a breath of myth and mystery_

_And don't look back_

* * *

The compound got its power from buried electricity lines from the nearest power plant, along with some generators. Maintenance had to be done on the generators every few months to ensure that they were in working condition. Whenever the generators would be turned off for maintenance, the power in the compound would be almost completely down. They had backup generators in the compound, but they stayed off, to be turned on only in cases of emergency, or when maintenance was to be done in winter. During maintenance, only essential services in the compound were to be kept on, powered by the electricity that didn’t come from the generators. Most cameras would be down, though.

And it just so happened that a few days from today, generator maintenance was scheduled. Akaashi scrolled through the notice that had been sent out through the compound, mind already running far ahead of his eyes. 

Because the containment room Bokuto was locked in was literally just an empty gym that had been hastily repurposed into a holding room, it was in an open area of the compound, not in a restricted lab. The doors were secured with heavy manual locks, not a keypad or an ID scanner. All they would have to do was first get out of the containment room without being spotted, and then getting through the corridors without being seen, avoiding the areas where the cameras would be recording, which was near the labs.

The fact that the maintenance would be done in the evening would also help. The darkness might be enough to hide Bokuto when he flew away from the lab. It might also be able to obscure two forms running through the long halls of the compound.

He just needed to get Bokuto out of the containment room, out of the building, and then have him fly away. It was so simple. It was so simple.

* * *

“So, what’s Scout training like? You’ve talked about flying out on missions and flying through storms, but not much else. You didn’t talk much about the other things, like navigation or survival,” Akaashi said. It was another one of their meetings, scheduled late in the evening. Strangely, Akaashi had seemed distracted at times this evening. 

Over the last few days, the two of them had been talking more and more, and Bokuto usually always ended up revealing more information about avians than he intended, and each time, it got easier and easier. It was strange. Whenever he was dragged out of the cage to be tortured, he would reveal nothing, but when Akaashi spoke to him with easy friendliness (or whatever could be considered friendliness in Akaashi’s case, because he was pretty dry most times), he gave out the information that the other humans would torture and maim to obtain. 

And torture and maim they did. Akaashi ended up cleaning blood off his wings twice more. Just half an hour earlier, they had been in the side room as Akaashi helped wash blood off his face and out of his feathers and hair. And each time he did, Bokuto noticed a slight strain in his face, despite the calm composure Akaashi normally wore around him.

“Well, what else do you want to know?” Bokuto asked. 

“Hm. Tell me about navigation. How do you find flight routes when everything looks the same up there?”

“Compasses and maps. We use them to find the four cardinal directions, and travel according to the maps we have. Most of the time, we don’t even need compasses because we can tell directions based on the position of the sun. We also use landmarks to ensure we didn’t drift off track. I’m sure you have maps down here. Do you have compasses here?” 

Akaashi made that noise that sounded like a cross between a sigh and an exasperated laugh, which Bokuto noticed he sometimes made when he had trouble explaining things. It was honestly kinda cute. “Of course we have maps and compasses,” he said. “It’s just that technology has improved so much down here that we barely use compasses these days. It’s all digital.”

“Digital?” Akaashi had also thrown a few other words around like “Internet” or “wifi”, whatever those were supposed to be, and then fumbled around whenever Bokuto didn’t understand what they were. They were apparently quite common on the ground. 

“Er, it’s hard to explain. Just...just know that we still use the cardinal directions, but we use other methods than compasses to tell where they are. Most people here probably don’t even know how to use a compass, so they’re pretty much useless here.” 

“Have you ever used a compass, Akaashi?” 

“No. Like I said, I’ve barely left the compound. No need for one.”

“Okay. Well, we do use compasses and maps. If we’re flying out at night and the sky is clear, we also use the stars and constellations to tell direction. We even memorize some directions. Not that difficult once you get used to it.”

“If you say so, Bokuto-san.” Fidgeting with his fingers, Akaashi asked, “Then what’s survival training like?”

“Survival training...that’s probably the most difficult part of Scout training.” 

“Oh? Do tell.” 

“Well, first thing to know is what to do in an emergency.”

“What counts as an emergency?” 

“Lots of things, but the most well-known one is when you’re alone out in the open sky,” Bokuto answered. Recalling the storm that swept him away and eventually led to him being captured, he shuddered slightly and added, “That’s the first thing we learn. Never fly out into the open sky by yourself. At least bring one other person with you.”

“Because it’s easier to plan and navigate with a group?” Akaashi no longer seemed distracted, his full attention on Bokuto.

“Yeah. But there are horror stories too, saying that if you fly out into the open sky alone for long periods of time, you’ll suffer from sky madness. You get so used to flying alone in silence, surrounded by nothing but air, that you forget what it’s like to be with other people. Some say that it’s just a myth, but too few people survive flying alone into the open sky for us to be sure.” 

Eyes wide, Akaashi said, “Okay. What do you do in cases of emergency?”

“Get to the closest community of avians as soon as possible. Food and water are extremely hard to find in the open sky because there’s almost no land, so we don’t really train to forage for food or whatever. The chance of coming across an island big enough to have plants and stuff on it is very low. All avians, no matter where they’re from, are obligated to take in lone fliers when they find them.”

“So how do you train for that?”

Remembering all the harsh exams and long days and nights of studying, Bokuto laughed lightly. “A group of us goes out into open sky, and train to work through different situations where we’re put by ourselves. Of course, the instructors will do something if we get into trouble, but other than that, we’re on our own. And of course, there’s always Hell Week.” 

“Hell Week?” 

“The week where exams take place. There’s one for each season, and it includes everything we’ve learned. We’re given practical exams and written exams. One of the practical exams involves being thrown out into an open area of the sky alone and having to work by yourself to get back to safety. Even when you’re working together, there are still other things to deal with, like air currents and storms and just plain tiredness.”

“You’re given time to rest, right?”

“Not really. The exams take up most of the day. When you do have breaks, they’re usually spent cramming for the next exam.”

“Do you even sleep?” 

“A little.” 

Akaashi leaned back on his hands. “That sounds harsh.”

“It’s to prepare us for the dangers of open sky. If it makes you feel any better, most avians recover easily from sleep deprivation. Part of the benefits of fast healing,” Bokuto said. 

Akaashi looked away for a few seconds, and then said, “What made you want to be Scout, then? From everything I’ve heard, it’s dangerous, difficult, and even training is harsh. Why did you choose to be a Scout, despite all that?”

“Because I like flying. And as a Scout, that’s what you spent most of your time doing.”

“Is there...anything else?” 

Was there? “Well, it also means I get to see things that other avians wouldn’t. Because of how dangerous it is away from land, there’s an unspoken rule that you don’t fly off the edge of the island if you haven’t at least received training. That means you’re practically landlocked. Who wants to be landlocked when you have the entire sky out in front of you?” 

When Akaashi fell silent, seeming to ponder over Bokuto’s words, Bokuto added, “And what about you? Still want to be able to fly out and see what the sky’s like?” 

“After hearing all that...I don’t really know. It’ll be interesting, for sure. If only I had wings, first of all. And I’m starting to wonder if all the work is good for your health, too,” Akaashi said, ever practical.

“It’s not a problem. Like I said, avians heal fast.”

“No, I meant your mental health.”

“Well, there are ways to deal with that as well. In the end, if you handle everything properly, you’ll be absolutely fine.” Bokuto raised an eyebrow. “Although, there’s the question of how well you can take flight in general. You always look really tense around heights.”

“I’m scared of falling.”

Well, he supposed that was fair. Akaashi, as a human, didn’t have wings to slow his fall if he somehow did end up falling over the edge. “Scared of falling, not of heights?” Bokuto asked. 

“Yeah.”

“But you will want to fly. You still want to be a Scout?” 

“I mean, I guess.” Akaashi shrugged. “Not a Scout, necessarily. I just want to know what it’s like, being able to fly. But for that, I’d need to have wings.”

“If you did have wings, would you choose to become a Scout?” 

“Eh, I don’t know. The training regiment you described sounds quite difficult. I don’t know if I’d survive. I might fail all the exams.” 

“Even if you do fail, the trick is not to give up!” Bokuto grinned. “Lots of people fail the first time around. But that just means you have room to grow, right?”

The rest of their time together that evening passed surprisingly fast. 

* * *

The lamp built into the wall near his desk glowed a warm, low yellow, illuminating Akaashi’s desk but leaving the walls and corners of his room in shadow. His hand was beginning to cramp from writing so fast and from gripping his pencil so hard. He was quickly writing down everything he had learned about avians from Bokuto in a notebook so he could remember them. It was important that he had a written record of these things, in case he forgot and didn’t have Bokuto around any more to remind him. Of course, he had to keep this hidden. He had no idea how his parents would react when they found out that he was keeping all this information a secret from them, as well as the fact that he had been feeding them lies about what Bokuto had told him. He had been withholding as much information from them as he possibly could, and they were starting to get impatient. Which only meant that the sooner Bokuto escaped, the better.

Checking his clock, he saw that he had about fifteen minutes until his next meeting with Bokuto. The researchers had kept allowing the two of them to meet under the pretense of friends so Akaashi could gather information, completely unaware that Akaashi’s loyalties had shifted.

The walk to the labs didn’t take long at all, but Akaashi decided to just leave it and go early. His parents were already working there, in some meeting containing confidential matters, They trusted him to make it there by himself now. And it was getting easier. The long, twisted hallways and convoluted route to the labs and research centers were getting easier and easier to navigate, even without signposts. He got to where he needed to easily enough.

Even though the room where Bokuto was held was in another wing of the compound completely, it was still required for Akaashi to check in at the labs before heading out to speak with him. His parents and many of the other researchers involved with the whole issue surrounding Bokuto were in a meeting in the lab room where Akaashi usually checked in, so he waited beside the closed door. 

He leaned back against the wall and watched the clock. Eight minutes until he was scheduled to go inside the labs. Because of his work, he had been given higher security clearance, which meant that he could just unlock the door to the lab with his ID card (which he previously wouldn’t have been able to do) and go inside. He didn’t, though, preferring to just wait for him to be let in. Even if he didn’t care for the way they were treating Bokuto, he didn’t want to end up in trouble that could easily be avoided.

Eight minutes passed. Akaashi stood up straighter, waiting for the door to open. But nothing happened for another five minutes. Starting to get impatient, he tapped his fingers. Another ten minutes passed without anyone opening the door to let him inside.

What were they possibly doing in there? What had them so busy?

Slightly frustrated, he got up from where he was slouching against the wall. If he did end up barging into their secret meeting and making all of them angry, it wasn’t completely his fault. 

He flashed his ID at the scanner beside the door, and it unlocked quietly. Unsure why he was keeping quiet instead of announcing his presence, Akaashi quietly closed the door behind him and padded into the labs.

He was greeted by rows of tables covered in paperwork and computers where no one sat lined against the walls. The lab as far as he could see was empty. Everyone probably was holding their meeting in one of the deeper rooms in the lab. As Akaashi wandered deeper into the labs, he heard slightly raised voices. Both curious and alarmed, he pressed his back to the wall as to not be seen, keeping out of the range of the camera he spotted in the corner, and listened.

“No, I’m telling you! This is too dangerous.”

“This isn’t! What are the chances? It’s worth the risk!” That was Father’s voice. 

“We have been going in circles with no progress. This is getting nowhere. Currently, the best solution is to keep letting Akaashi work with what he has, and that’s final. All of you know very well the consequences if we fail.” Mother’s voice.

“Yes, Doctor. But what if we fail in keeping Project Nullifier in check?” 

Project Nullifier? What was all this? What did this have to do with him? He had never heard of any of this.

“From what I can tell, we’re not having any issues keeping Project Nullifier in check at the moment, are we?” came Father’s voice. 

“No, but we are walking a very fine line between success and disaster.”

There was a short pause, and then Father said, “We’ll do everything to try and tip the scales to one side. This has gone on for long enough.”

Akaashi heard movement, the sound of chair legs scraping against the floor as someone stood up. Deciding that it was better he announce himself than get found out, he moved away from where he was standing backed against the wall, moving into view of the room. 

“Oh, hello,” he said, keeping his tone neutral. “Sorry I’m late. Am I interrupting anything?” 

If it weren’t for the fact that he might end up getting yelled at for this, the way everyone sitting at the conference table in the middle of the room shot to their feet as if they had been shocked would almost be funny. A few knocked over their chairs.

“No, no, you’re not,” Mother said, voice slightly strained. “We’ve just finished.”

Now that he was here, no one wasted time cleaning up after themselves, cleaning up the meeting room and the sheets of paper scattered across the table. Slightly disappointed that he wasn’t even able to get a glimpse of what was written on the documents in the meeting room, Akaashi turned away to talk when Father called him over.

“Akaashi, I know that you probably just got impatient with us. And I admit, we were tardy this time. None of us noticed the meeting was running late, but I have to know if you heard anything,” he said. 

“Not much,” Akaashi said, which was the truth. “I just heard the part at the end, where you said ‘we didn’t have any issues keeping Project Nullifier in check’.” Not the truth. 

“Ah. That’s not an issue, then.”

“What is Project Nullifier, then?” 

“Don’t concern yourself with that, Akaashi. You’re not supposed to know.” 

So, another one of those top-secret scientist affairs Akaashi couldn’t know about. Well, that would be okay, if it weren’t for the fact that Project Nullifier, whatever that was, was somehow connected to him and Bokuto. Another researcher had mentioned it in tandem to Akaashi and him working “with what he has”, which could only mean Akaashi’s proposition that he would get information out of Bokuto.

He wasn’t given much time to ponder over it, though. He was led immediately to the containment room and let inside. Bokuto, still perched on that one platform (that blanket-covered one that was the hardest spot for the cameras to capture) perked up when he noticed Akaashi, and Akaashi felt the corners of his lips twisting up. This had strangely become one of the best parts of his day, minus the stress and constant worrying of trying to keep Bokuto safe and trying to get him out of the compound.

“Hey, Akaashi!” Bokuto looked somewhat better than the last time Akaashi had seen him, which he was grateful for. He had eventually stopped trying to hide his injuries from Akaashi, given that he would spot them every time. The last time Akaashi had visited him, he had been covered in dried blood from half-healed wounds. He looked more manageable this time, wearing compound-standard clothing with slits cut in the back for his wings while what he was previously wearing, a Scout uniform, according to him, was washed.

“Hello again, Bokuto-san.” Climbing up the ladder was getting easier. This time, Akaashi hovered briefly on each bar before nimbly pulling himself up to the next one, in complete comparison to slowly climbing, gripping each rung tightly before carefully moving on.

Once he had gotten up to the top platform and righted himself, Bokuto squinted at him before saying, “Are you okay? You look kinda tired.”

“Don’t worry. I’ve just got a lot of work to do from class.” That was part of the reason why he was exhausted. Another part of the reason was that he spent lots of time in bed tossing and turning as he stressed over his half-baked escape plan, another part of the reason was that his dreams interrupted him every other time he had a half-decent sleep, and the last part of the reason was that he just didn’t feel like sleeping at times even though he was bone-tired. Settling down across from Bokuto on the blanket-strewn platform, he asked, “What about you?”

“I’ve been...okay, I guess. For today, at least.” He didn’t say any more.

Akaashi nodded. It was signs like these that reminded him that Bokuto needed to get out of this place as soon as possible. “You know...if you ever want to talk…” 

“I’m fine.”

He clearly wasn’t, but Akaashi had no idea on how to press.

“Bokuto-san? What would you say if I told you I would help you escape?” he found himself asking instead. 

Surprise registered on Bokuto’s face as he said, “I’d say yes. But in all honesty, I don’t know if I can take your word for it.”

“You’ve been telling me everything I asked about, everything I wanted to know. Didn’t you say when we first talked that you wouldn’t reveal anything? And yet here you are.”

“And yet here I am, I guess. You know, when you phrase it like that, it seems like I really don’t have a choice but to trust you.” 

“So that’s a yes? If I said that I would get you out, you’d take the chance?”

“Yeah, I guess. Hypothetically.”

Releasing a breath that he wasn’t aware of holding, Akaashi said, “It’s not hypothetical. I’ll get you out.”

Bokuto looked at him in surprise.

“Listen. It’s difficult, but it looks weirdly simple when I think about it as one whole plan.” Akaashi raked a hand through his hair. “You’ll have to trust me on this. I won’t tell you just when, but hopefully sometime in the near future, I’ll help you escape the building. But after that, you’ll have to find a way to get to Fukurodani by yourself, despite the dangers of being alone you talked about, like sky madness and all that. I can’t leave.”

After a long pause, Bokuto said “Alright. When?”

“I can’t tell you that at the moment, Bokuto-san. I’m planning on a specific date, but the conditions have to be just right for this to happen. Do you trust me?”

He sighed and said, “I don’t have a choice, do I? Okay, I’ll trust you.”

“And that’s all I can hope for.”

Bokuto laughed, a short harsh sound, but bright nonetheless. “Y’know, I might actually miss you when I’m gone. Isn’t that funny? I’ve been told that humans are dangerous. But here I’m actually talking to a human friend that’s offering to help me when I’m trapped, and I’ll find that I’ll miss them. Isn’t that ironic?”

A smile played at Akaashi’s lips as he said, “Yes, I suppose so.” Say nothing of how he himself would miss a friend who was of an entirely new species that previously hated humans.

* * *

_He was lying on a table, bright lights glaring down on him, blinding him. Pain so intense that he couldn’t even scream was shooting through his back. Akaashi tried to thrash despite the pain in his limbs, but something kept him bound to the table._

_A hand crossed his field of vision, holding a syringe containing...something. He couldn’t tell what it was. “This will hurt,” a disembodied voice said. “I’m sorry. It will pass, though.”_

_The needle jabbed into his arm, and Akaashi screamed, a long, unending sound that echoed off the walls as whatever burning liquid in the syringe was pumped into his veins. Poison like fire ran into his blood, blending together. It was poison. He was being poisoned._

_Everything burned. His blood felt like it was on fire. His vision was fading in and out, and his head was spinning. A blade then dug into his forearm, near his elbow, and he screamed in pain again. The knife made quick incisions in his skin, and warm blood ran down his arm. He could picture it, deep red running in rivulets down his skin._

_Something, small, cold, and vaguely rectangular was pressed to the raw flesh where the knife had cut. His chip._

_Akaashi thrashed again against his bonds, and this time, with a surge of inhuman strength, he tore himself free of whatever was tying him to the table, pure agony like molten metal coursing through his body as he threw himself to the side, falling off the table and onto the floor with a thump. Wings shot out of his back, but they were spindly and weak, feathers clumped together._

_He looked up, and the first thing he saw lying on the floor was Bokuto, eyes open and devoid of life, limbs mangled and twisted around him, wings broken and bloody behind him._

When Akaashi woke, the first thing he did was bury his face in his sheets to stifle a scream. His nightshirt felt like it was drenched in sweat, and his eyes were burning with the beginnings of tears.

He wasn’t sure how long he lay curled in bed, trying to calm his pounding heart. The clock on his bedside table read 1:55 AM.

The researchers had given him permission to visit Bokuto late at night when he was unable to sleep, earlier that day when he had left the containment room for his most recent chat with Bokuto. Everything would be recorded on the cameras, so Akaashi just needed to log in at the labs before heading out.

Limbs shaking, Akaashi pulled himself out of bed to get dressed. His hands were trembling so badly that he had trouble pulling a shirt over his head.

The walk to the labs was completely silent, guided only by the emergency lights. He was jumpier than usual, startling at every shadow in the corner. After logging in on a lab computer, he picked up the Scout uniform that he noticed had been washed and dried and was lying on a table and he practically ran to the containment room.

“Akaashi?” Bokuto asked blearily, peering down from the side of the platform when Akaashi opened the door. “It’s late. What are you doing?”

“Sorry. It’s just...I couldn’t sleep.” Akaashi was fast climbing the ladder this time. When he reached the top level, he tossed the uniform which he had previously slung over a shoulder to free his hands at Bokuto. “Here. This is washed now.”

“Oh. Thanks.” Bokuto moved to make room for Akaashi near the side of the platform that was pressed against the wall, which he was grateful for. He didn’t want to be falling off the side anytime soon. As Akaashi settled down, Bokuto threw a blanket at him and asked, “Why can’t you sleep?”

“Nightmares. I just...needed to be somewhere.”

“I’d say that you’re welcome here, but I don’t really have a say in where you can go or not, here. I hope you don’t mind me sleeping, though.”

“No, no, that’s fine.” Akaashi pulled the dark blue blanket Bokuto had thrown at him around his shoulders. Even though it was late summer where the compound was located, the temperature in the compound was regulated, kept slightly chilly. “Hey, if you’re an owl avian, do you sleep during the day or night?”

“It depends,” Bokuto answered, lying back down and folding his wings over himself before pulling another blanket over himself. “Some people prefer sleeping during the day, some people prefer sleeping at night, some people prefer sleeping for part of the day and part of the night.”

“So what about you?” 

“Part of the day, part of the night. But my sleep schedule got messed up after you humans shot me out of the sky, so now I sleep only during the night.” 

“Okay. Well then, goodnight, Bokuto-san.”

“‘Night, Akaashi.”

Akaashi sat with his back pressed to the wall and just listened to Bokuto’s breathing even out, a blanket wrapped around him. Having companionship after just waking up from a nightmare wasn’t too bad. It was comforting, in a way. When his back started to ache, he turned to lay down parallel to Bokuto on the platform, keeping a safe distance away from him, wedging a rolled-up blanket under his head as a makeshift pillow.

When Akaashi found himself waking up that morning to Bokuto bustling around on their platform and sunlight streaming from the skylight, he realized that he didn’t dream at all.

* * *

Tomorrow night. Tomorrow night, Bokuto would be gone. Akaashi kept up a brisk pace on the way to the labs. His schedule had said something weird for tonight, though. He was supposed to be spending all his time at the labs instead of interrogating Bokuto.

When he got there, he was let in by a researcher who directed him through the labs to the side room where his parents were supposed to be waiting.

However, when he got there, the room was empty. There was a large window in the room looking into another room that somewhat resembled an operating room. Akaashi turned to peer through the window, and the memory of the dream of him bound to the table as poison was injected into his veins and knives carved into his arms surfaced when he saw Bokuto lying on his side on a table though the glass pane, back to him, wings tangled in chains.

He ran across to the window, pressing a hand to the pane, fear and worry pulsing through him in waves.

“Don’t worry, he’s okay for now,” Mother said as she and Father entered the room.

“What are you doing to him?”

“Oh, just a few tests. Nothing painful.” But they all knew that it wouldn’t be the tests that were painful, it was the torture and interrogation that was painful. “We called you here because given all the time that you’ve spent working, it was fair that you see our results.”

“What sort of tests?” Akaashi asked, ignoring the last part of what they said.

“Like I said, nothing too dangerous. Some X-rays and weighing. No dissections, although we’re seeing if we can make it happen.”

Was it possible to feel violated on someone else’s behalf? He thought the answer was yes.

“Wait, you were planning on a dissection?” Akaashi asked. “Was any of this even consensual in the first place?”

“Of course not. You think he would’ve consented to this?” Father asked, waving a hand at the window. “Sometimes, I think you’re getting too attached to the avian, Akaashi.”

Swallowing down the anger and stinging words that rose in him like bile, Akaashi said, “No, I’m concerned for his well-being. It’s not a crime, is it?”

“It isn’t. But it’s strange,” Mother said. “Either way, you’re here to see the results, meager as they are. Are you interested in them or not?”

“Of course,” Akaashi said, even if it felt like he was violating Bokuto’s privacy.

With a brisk nod, Mother took out a folder she had tucked under one arm. “These contain some of the images that we took during the X-rays.” She opened the folder and began to pass out black and white photos, setting them down on the small table in the room“As you can see, it seems that avians have hollow bones. There’s empty space in the area where it should be filled with bone marrow.”

“It’s an ingenious design of nature,” Father murmured. “This structure makes their skeleton both strong and light, which is needed to reduce weight and increase strength needed for flight. And it appears that an average avian is lighter than an average human.”

“And it appears that most of their weight is from their wings, anyway,” Mother added. “We’ll still not completely sure how the wing muscles work and how they connect to avian anatomy, though. So much is unknown, but that comes with encountering a completely new species for the first time.”

“But one thing we’re completely sure of is that they have much sharper hearing and eyesight than normal humans. We also know they heal extremely quickly, but we still don’t know what causes it. However, we haven’t had the chance to test if they regenerate limbs on this avian,” Father said, nodding towards that room where Bokuto was locked in. “We’re hoping we can test that soon. Maybe about tomorrow, or maybe the day after. There is the question of how much to chop off, though.”

Vaguely nauseated, Akaashi demanded, “You really don’t care, don’t you? How can you be so clinical?”

Mother sighed and said, “Being this clinical comes with our line of work,” she said. “Being too emotional or too attached to something won’t help.”

“This isn’t about what’s convenient for you! It’s about how you’re hurting other people!” He fought to keep his voice under control.

“You think we don’t realize that? We do. But the need for results and progress rules out everything else. Maybe if this were a kinder world, we would have room to think about these things. But at this time, we don’t,” Father said tonelessly.

“What could possibly be so important that you’re willing to do this?” Akaashi snarled, control slipping as he gestured to Bokuto’s unconscious form through the glass.

Shaking her head, Mother said calmly, “We can’t tell you that. Most of this is classified, and you could be in actual legal trouble for finding out.”

Gritting his teeth, Akaashi fell silent as Father started clearing up the sheets they had laid out on the table. “That’s about everything we have at the moment,” he said. “Apologies for how little information there is, but the main point of this meeting is for you to get more acquainted with the tactics we’re using here.”

“And just so you know, all this information is going to be stored in the lab’s archive. The archive is in the basement of this compound, and it contains everything in this compound,” Mother explained. “All the info we gathered on past experiments, every single discovery, the information on every single project we’ve been working on, it’s all there. All the new information we learn about this avian affair will also be stored there. There’s a very good chance we won’t have much time to schedule many meetings like this, so if at any time you want to see for yourself what info we’ve collected, you can ask one of us to take you there. However, you’ll just be allowed to see the info on the event about this avian. Anything else is off limits, and that’s why you need someone supervising you in the archives.”

The archives. Of course, they would need someplace to store their information besides the compound’s servers. 

And if everything was there, there might be information on Project Nullifier in there too. 

“And that’s all for now,” Father said, tone giving clear indication that their meeting was over. “The avian will be awake anytime now. You can go in and talk with him there. Just don’t unchain him. We have cameras in here, but no microphones, unfortunately.”

All thoughts of Project Nullifier gone from Akaashi’s head, he nodded briskly and walked quickly out of the meeting room, darting through the side room until he reached the door to the room Bokuto was confined in, pulling the door open and running inside.

He slowed to a stop in front of the table. Akaashi had a full view of Bokuto’s face from where he was standing. He still wasn’t awake yet.

Hefting himself up so Akaashi sat on the edge of the table, he peered down at Bokuto’s unconscious form. Tentatively reaching a hand out, he carefully ran a hand through Bokuto’s messy hair, gently brushing it away from his face.

Bokuto twitched and stirred slightly before falling still again, and Akaashi snatched his hand back quickly as he realized what he was doing. What was he thinking?

“Akaashi?” Bokuto’s voice sounded raspy, as if from screaming. Yellow eyes slowly opened.

“Yeah. I’m here,” he replied quietly. “Are you okay, Bokuto-san?”

“I mean...I guess.” He pulled himself up into a sitting position, chains rattling and dragging against each other as he did. 

He clearly wasn’t. As Bokuto straightened, he nearly collapsed over again as if he wasn’t in complete control of his body, and Akaashi rushed to help support him.

“What now? What did they do now?” The low snarl in Akaashi’s voice surprised even him.

Bokuto looked away, not meeting his eyes.

When he cracked, gripping onto Akaashi’s shirt and burying his face in his shoulder, Akaashi could feel his heart rending.

* * *

Tonight was the night. He wasn’t supposed to be visiting Bokuto tonight, courtesy of the generator maintenance. Maintenance was scheduled about an hour before lights-out was usually scheduled, and would continue until near midnight. That meant Akaashi had a window of about two hours where he was completely unmonitored, and he’d be able to get Bokuto out. Two hours should be more than enough.

Well then, tonight was the night. Tonight would be the last time he would ever see Bokuto. It had been almost two weeks since he was first captured, and Akaashi somehow had gotten accustomed to him over those two weeks.

That dinner, he tried to force himself to eat despite the emptiness in his chest. When he had first planned for this, he’d never expected that he would miss him. But now that the fact of his departure was staring Akaashi straight in the face, he had no choice but to admit that he’d miss Bokuto’s company when he left.

But the fact remained that Bokuto wasn’t safe here. He needed to fly home. 

Once he was gone, the scientists here shouldn’t be able to track him. When he had met with his parents yesterday, they hadn’t mentioned anything about a tracking device, which hopefully meant that Bokuto wasn’t chipped or something.

And then there was the idea of what Akaashi was to do after Bokuto left. Maybe he should start focusing on his work in the labs, and Project Nullifier. Maybe it might have been illegal for him to see now, but once he turned of age and started work in the labs, he’d be able to find out? That was too far into the future for him to bother with at the moment.

Dinner was finished and cleared away, and he headed back to his room to try and get some homework done while he waited for the power to go out. His parents were still working in the lab, and would be until who knew when. Probably until some godless hour in the morning, even without power. They hadn’t given him any specifics, but judging by the hints they had given him when he started joining their work, they probably used some portable flashlight to work with paper files in some deep room in the labs. The thought almost made him want to laugh. 

The chip in his arm beeped, reminding him to take his nightly medication, which he did.

Darkness was beginning to fall by the time he finished working, shoving his notebooks to the side with a sense of finality. With nothing else to do, he headed into the tiny bathroom to clean up, and was soon sitting on his bed with his legs folded beneath him, running his fingers over the cover of the notebook where he had written all the details of what he had learned from Bokuto about avians.

At eleven, a shrill beep sounded through the apartment, the signal that the power was going to go out soon. Akaashi had been expecting that sound for so long that he almost jumped off the bed in shock when he heard it, keyed up to the point where he would startle at any little noise. 

All the lights in the room shut off, and then the only source of light was the faint moonlight streaming in from the window, curtains open. After allowing his eyes to adjust to the low light in the room, Akaashi took a deep breath to try and slow his heart, which was beating so quickly that he could almost feel its pulse in his ears.

Pulling on his shoes, he headed through the apartment, pulled the front door open, and ran out as quickly as he dared, trying to stay as quiet as possible. 

Generator maintenance was something that he had experienced many times before, and was something he understood. Everyone tended to just stay in one place during maintenance. It wasn’t that wandering the halls wasn’t allowed during this time, it was just that with the dark hallways and no illumination, no one wanted to be walking around the compound, especially when they didn’t have to. Tonight, Akaashi was eternally grateful for the creepiness of dark, empty hallways keeping his path clear.

Even with his particularly good night vision, he almost had heart attacks by almost running into walls a few times, the corridors were so dark. He breathed a soft sigh of relief when the door to the containment room loomed into sight. It had taken him longer than usual, with the dark corridors throwing off his sense of direction.

Quickly checking both ways to make sure there was no one around, he ran to the door to the antechamber and quickly undid the locks, closing it behind him. Fingers trembling so badly that it took him much longer than usual to unlock the door to the containment room, he finally managed to get the door open and run inside. 

“Akaashi?” Bokuto peered down from the platform he normally stayed on, Scout jacket pulled messily around his shoulders. “What are you doing? If you’re here to talk, you’re later than usual.”

“I’m not here to talk, Bokuto-san. I’m here to get you out. This is the night. I told you to wait for me to pick the time, and it’s today. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier, but I wanted to keep it as secret as I could.”

A short pause ensued, and then he nodded. “Okay. I said that I had no choice but to trust you, right?”

Akaashi nodded. “Come on,” he said, and turned away to run for the door. When he turned around to check if Bokuto was following him, he was already standing directly behind him, and Akaashi startled.

“Sorry. Did I scare you?” 

“Don’t worry.” Akaashi held the door open for Bokuto, and the two of them headed out into the antechamber. 

The journey from the containment room to one of the outer halls took in total maybe about five minutes, but it felt like much longer. Time felt suspended in limbo to Akaashi as they darted from corridor to corridor, straining his eyes to see for advancing shapes through the darkness, heart beating so fast from fear and apprehension that he could practically hear it in his ears. 

“This way!” Akaashi hissed, motioning to Bokuto to follow him. The route was starting to look slightly more familiar. This was the route he would take to go outside sometimes.

ID scanners probably counted as one of the few things that did need to be powered during generator maintenance. However, if Akaashi used his ID to open the door, it would involve a lot of awkward explaining and lying as to why he was out of the apartment and trying to get outside in the middle of the night. Which meant that they needed another way out.

There were a few windows along the outer hallways, though.

“There,” Akaashi muttered as they slowed to a stop in front of a window. “We need a way to break that window.” Maybe he should’ve thought this out better. “Okay. We’ll need to double back a little and then come back. I need something to break the glass.”

Nodding, Bokuto followed him as they turned back. After a few more nerve-racking minutes of navigating twisting hallways, Akaashi pulled open a storage closet, rummaging through the mixed items and pulling out one of the cheap plastic and metal chairs they used in classrooms.

“That should work,” Bokuto said.

Akaashi nodded. “Get a few extra, in case the one we’re using breaks.” He stacked a few chairs on top of each other and then lifted them, the edges digging painfully into his hands. Bokuto did the same beside him.

Making their way back to that window took longer than getting there at first. Probably not just because they were each awkwardly carrying a stack of chairs, but it was the added apprehension that they would be caught because of their slower pace that made the trip drag out.

“Alright. So...we just hit at the glass with these?” Bokuto asked.

“Yep. That’s basically it.”

“You don’t have an issue that it’s going to be a waste of glass? Glass is hard to make.”

So the limited resources on the floating islands meant that they couldn’t make much glass? Well, at least they had glass. “Not down here, on the ground,” Akaashi answered. “With the technology we have, glass is easy enough to come by. Replacing such a big window will be expensive, but it won’t be too big an issue. Although, you’re almost making me feel guilty about making it so that the window will have to be replaced, Bokuto-san.” He nodded toward the window as he hefted up a chair. “It’s not like we have a choice, though.”

“Right.”

This was more awkward than Akaashi expected. What part of the chair was he supposed to use to smash glass? The legs or the back of the chair? Eh, whatever. Awkwardly lifting the chair up higher, gripping his legs, he swung at the window. It was a fairly large window compared to many others in the compound, with its frame tall enough to encompass the upper half of his body and the bottom of its frame reaching his waist. That gave him a bit of an easier target to hit.

The glass fractured a little, but didn’t break. Akaashi flinched at the noise it made, cracking through the silence, as noticeable as a gunshot. He then frowned at the little damage he made. That glass had to be reinforced, to be able to withstand such a forceful blow with that little damage.

Bokuto moved next, smacking at the glass again with another chair. The glass spiderwebbed in a tangle of thin cracks. Avian strength had its uses, it seemed.

The two of them moved in tandem, taking turns at the glass. Akaashi wanted to stop and flee at the amount of noise they were making, but he didn’t have a choice. 

“Almost there, right?” Bokuto asked, pausing to observe the damage they did. The window was indented, and shot through with cracks. What was that thing even made out of? How was a window that durable?

“Almost,” answered Akaashi as he straightened again. For some reason, he wasn’t that tired, even after using a chair as a weapon to try and break through a window. Maybe all that climbing ladders and time running around the compound trying to get to wherever Bokuto happened to be strengthened him.

Then, footsteps echoed down the corridor, loud as drumbeats in the surrounding quiet. Akaashi felt his heart almost stop.

When he whipped around to peer at Bokuto, he looked as alarmed as Akaashi. He turned down the other side of the corridor, opposite to where the footsteps were coming from. It led straight, no twists or corners to hide behind.

They were too late. A researcher rounded the corner. Akaashi could tell by the white lab coat and the ID badge pinned to the front of the coat. She froze upon seeing them.

Tense didn’t even begin to describe the seconds that passed as they all froze, watching and surveying each other. Every muscle in Akaashi’s body was pulled taut, waiting for the researcher’s next move. Would she run for help, or turn to attack them now?

She did neither. “Hurry. Everyone’s still distracted. I’m just here because I was supposed to get some papers,” she said as she ran forward, grasping a chair and awkwardly lifting it up. “The glass and window frame are reinforced. You’ll need more force than if you were to break a normal window.”

“Why?” Akaashi asked, stunned. Bokuto didn’t move from beside him.

She paused, then said, “The same reason as you, I suppose. Didn’t think that what they were doing in the labs was very ethical.” She jerked her head at Bokuto, and then turned to the window.

Some time passed during which no one spoke. Akaashi’s head was still reeling from the discovery that there were other people involved in the project than him that thought the same way as he did.

A loud cracking filled the air, and Akaashi took what felt like his first actual breath of air in a while as the window indented further, cracks widening. A few sharp blows later, and the entire window shattered, jagged glass cascading to the floor. 

“Well, avian. You’re free,” said the researcher as she backed away. “I’ve gotta go. Akaashi, you come with me too. And before you ask why I know your name, it’s because you’re the chatter of the labs, with how involved you are in this whole mess.”

To even his surprise, he answered, “Not just yet. I wanted…” _...to say goodbye._

Seeming to understand, she sighed and nodded. “To wish your friend goodbye, all that. I’ve gotta go. If I’m not back soon, I’ll look suspicious. Just listen to me for a sec.”

“Alright.” It couldn’t take long, right? He was starting to get a little fidgety.

“The compound uses a sort of radar. If something foreign is in the airspace, it’ll be detected by the radar and the proximity alarm will go off. But it’s not that good for picking up foreign objects close to the ground, unless they’re really big like a truck or a car. That means your best bet is probably to stay close to the ground, and then only start flying when you get a safe distance away from the building.” She nodded towards Bokuto. “I don’t know just how far it reaches, but I’d say it has a range of about four or five hundred meters.”

“Thank you,” muttered Akaashi, unsure of how to respond in his surprise.

“No problem. Also, you really didn’t need to cause all this trouble,” the researcher said, motioning at the shattered window. “The glass and frame are heavily reinforced, and breaking it actually takes quite a bit of effort. Instead, what would make your life much easier would be to loosen the screws holding the window frame in place, and then just take the whole thing out. You’d need specialized screwdrivers, but I’m sure they’re not that hard to find in here. Just find a spare utility closet or something.”

He really didn’t think this out that well. “Thanks for everything. I mean it.” Akaashi inclined his head. Bokuto said nothing behind him.

She half-smiled. “You’re welcome. Now get outta here, avian. Akaashi, you’re free to see him off, but don’t come back late.” She nodded, then said, “Okay, I need to go. Good luck.”

And then she was gone, white coat swishing into darkness before he could say any more. 

“You think we can trust her?” Bokuto finally murmured.

“Good question. But I don’t think we have much of a choice.” Akaashi shoved a chair under the window, waiting at the side and gesturing for Bokuto to climb through first.

Once the large black and white wings passed through the empty window frame, Akaashi climbed on top of the chair and readied himself to clamber through the newly created exit. He had no idea what he was doing, but that seemed to be the norm with Bokuto.

As he pulled himself through the smashed window, he automatically reached down to grip the windowsill, and hissed in pain and shock when a stinging pain raced across his palm, jagged pieces of glass still attached to the frame cutting into his hand.

“Akaashi?” came Bokuto’s voice in worry.

“I’m okay.” Akaashi said as he pulled himself through and landed in the grass outside the compound. “Be careful of glass shards. I cut myself.” He glanced down at his hand, and sure enough, a long cut ran across his palm. Thankfully, there didn’t seem to by any glass shards embedded in his flesh, so there was that.

After hastily cleaning off the little blood he had left on the windowsill carefully with his sleeve (he didn’t want any remnants of himself left anywhere, so they wouldn’t be able to trace Bokuto’s escape back to him) and quickly wrapping his hand in a strip of cloth torn from his shirt, he turned and followed Bokuto through the long grasses and sparse trees surrounding the compound.

Free. All they needed to do now was get Bokuto far enough away from the compound that he wouldn’t be detected by radar when he flew away. Akaashi led the way towards the edge of the cliff, where it surely would be far away that the radar wouldn’t be able to detect Bokuto. It surely was more than 500 meters away.

Eventually, the grass turned to thicker undergrowth, their surroundings illuminated only faintly by the light of the moon. It was almost peaceful, as if they were just two friends walking together on a quiet, moonlit night out in the countryside.

But they both knew it would never be just that. There was a sense of urgency and sadness permeating the air as they broke out into a slow jog towards the cliff. Akaashi’s hand dully stung, but it slowly faded to a background pulse of pain that he eventually got used to.

“Think this is far enough?” Bokuto asked after some time. 

“Might be. You’ll just need to fly quickly to get out of range of our weapons.” Resisting the urge to fiddle with the cloth wrapped around his bleeding hand as they slowed to a stop, Akaashi reluctantly turned to Bokuto. Time to say goodbye.

Well, maybe it wouldn’t be goodbye forever. Maybe some time, when humans and avians got to know each other and learned to make peaceful alliances, they’d see each other again.

Ah, who was he kidding? That was completely wishful thinking. Well, it was a nice night, at least. It wasn’t too hot or too cold, and the winds were blowing gently around them. Not a bad last memory of Bokuto.

Akaashi opened his mouth to speak, but Bokuto shushed him, eyes suddenly wide with fear. “Do you hear that?”

“What?”

He then noticed it too.

Voices calling out to each other, through the night. Human voices.

“Think she betrayed us?” Bokuto’s voice was mildly panicked.

“I don’t know,” Akaashi murmured, heart sinking. Did she really? But if she did, why did she bother to help them in the first place? Was everything she told them a lie too?

He could now see flashlight beams cutting through the darkness, dangerously close to where they were currently hiding, half-hidden in a sparse grove of trees. A weight slammed into him, startling him and knocking the breath out of his lungs before he realized it was just Bokuto dragging both of them down into thicker undergrowth.

Thin branches and twigs poked uncomfortably at him as they crouched low in the tangle of tall grass and thin bushes. He had no idea how well they were hidden, but it had to be better than nothing. Hopefully there were no ticks or bugs or snakes or something.

Warm weight pressed against his side, Akaashi peered out through the thin branches he felt were barely concealing them as he squinted through the night. Their pursuers, for lack of a better word, were getting closer and closer, headed straight in their direction as if they knew exactly where they were hidden. Squinting through the darkness, Akaashi couldn’t tell if they were scientists or just compound workers. None of them were wearing the white lab coats that all researchers wore, instead wearing studier-looking black jackets.

The next few seconds were some of the longest seconds he had never experienced. The flashlight beams wandered so close to them that he could almost feel his heart stutter in his chest, half-blinded by light.

He hated this, hated being stationary.

“Stay here,” Bokuto suddenly muttered in his ear. “I'll lead them away. Once they’re far enough, run back to the compound.”

“Bokuto-san?”

“Bye, Akaashi. Sorry we didn’t have more time.”

And then the warm weight against his side was gone, leaving Akaashi surprisingly chilly. He could only then watch frozen in shock and terror as Bokuto darted out from the thin thicket, large wings spread.

Every muscle felt like it had frozen up as Akaashi held still in the thin tangle of branches as their pursuers turned to chase after Bokuto. He could only watch, frozen, not making a sound as the noises of screeching and cracking branches tore through the night, followed by cries of pain.

He wanted to scream. But he somehow kept the sound locked in his throat as he watched Bokuto fall in a tangle of nets and spears and probably tranquilizers. Shame and horror and frustration, mixing together into something akin to regret, caused his eyes to burn and his vision to blur as the avian’s unmoving form was dragged roughly over uneven ground back into the compound.

How had he failed so badly? They had gotten nowhere. If anything, this would make it even harder for him to attempt a second escape.

Somewhere in the mess in the head, he registered that he needed to get back inside the compound. It wouldn’t do him any good if he was found outside right now. He started to get up, only to freeze, then crouch back down low to the ground when he saw movement. Straining his ears, he could hear snippets of a conversation but couldn’t tell exactly what they were talking about. 

Eventually, they moved away and Akaashi was left alone crouching in the thicket. He waited for a short while to make sure he was alone before getting up and running back to the shattered window, heart sick with failure and disappointment.

* * *

This time, Bokuto was quite familiar with the sight waiting for him when he woke. Grey, dusty walls and stark lights, tangled in chains and wings chained and outstretched. However, the way he woke could’ve been more comfortable. He woke to a needle jabbing into his shoulder.

The questions, however, were slightly different this time. This time, they asked about his escape attempt. He answered nothing. Akaashi seemed like someone he could trust, and he didn’t want to make any rash decisions on the human that helped the two of them escape from the compound.

“Nope. I don’t have anything to say,” he said for about the tenth time. A sharp blow cracked across his face this time, blood beginning to ooze out of the new cut on his forehead.

The human in front of him sighed. “Alright. If you insist.” The human motioned with a hand, and then he could feel the downpour of fear crash down on him when another human stepped forward, holding what looked like a heavy battle-axe. The axe-wielder moved behind him, and his blood froze when he felt something heavy and sharp rest against his wing, near where it connected to his back.

“You have one other chance,” the human who first spoke said. “Who helped you escape? You surely can’t have gotten out of there by yourself. Someone let you out. Who were they, and what else did they do?”

Anger flared in him, drowning out the fear for a split second. Unwise as it was, Bokuto blinked blood out of his eyes and snapped, “I already told you I don’t have anything to say. Besides, what makes you think I’d tell you who was kind enough to help me? I wouldn’t betray the one decent human in this entire compound! If you humans are so smart, then you surely would understand that. But apparently being so smart only applies to your cruelty. Do you just hate everything that’s not human? Do you just think you can do whatever you want to whoever accidentally stumbles onto your land? I bet you don’t even like your own kids. You probably kill your own kind for the fun of it.”

Okay. Maybe that last part was a little too much.

The human’s face, once impassive, contorted into a hideous expression of anger. He would’ve prided himself on being able to crack the human’s calm composure, but he had other problems at the moment.

“We are doing this for our own kind,” the human snarled. “All this suffering is so we can protect our own, so we can protect our families. If I’m being perfectly honest, I don’t enjoy this. I couldn’t care less about you. But we’re being forced here, and we have no other choice. You are nothing but an animal incapable of understanding this, it seems.”

“Ha. Obviously I don’t understand what’s happening because none of you have explained anything other than the repeated 'oh, we’re being forced to do this and whatever, whatever'!” Anger burned red-hot, a taut string of patience snapping. “If you for once just considered all sides of the story, maybe we wouldn’t be having this conversation right now!” 

However, the human turned away, not paying attention to him. “We’re not getting anywhere. We continue with the investigation,” the human said, addressing the other humans in the room.

“Ah, leaving me alone? What a blessing, to be ignored by monsters who apparently don’t want to do anything but torment innocent avians,” Bokuto said flatly. He turned his head to the side to spit out the blood that had run down his face and had gotten into his mouth, trying to get rid of the metallic taste.

The human turned back around to glare at him as he turned back ahead, but didn’t say anything. Instead, the human gestured to the other human standing slightly behind him, which he had almost forgotten about.

Bokuto didn’t have a moment to prepare himself before the axe fell.

The anger that had fueled him dissipated almost immediately as pain took over everything else.

He screamed and screamed, but it didn’t end. It took more than one swing from the axe to completely sever his right wing from his back. The axe-wielder swung again and again, ripping and chopping messily though bone and flesh and sinew until it completely tore his wing from his body. 

Bile rose in his throat and splattered over the floor, but the foul taste and burn in his mouth barely registered with the agony searing through his back and whatever remained of his wing. He had never had a limb completely removed before, and he didn’t want to experience it again. The emptiness felt wrong and sickening, and the pain blacked out everything else except for the affected area.

Avian pain resistance was annoying in this situation. He wanted to pass out, but he didn’t.

The axe fell again and again. 

This time, he did pass out as his other wing was severed from his body as well with a few powerful swings from the axe. The blackness of unconsciousness had never been so welcomed before.

* * *

When Akaashi opened the door to his apartment, his heart sank. Mother was sitting at the kitchen table, patiently waiting for him, watching the front door. He hid his injured hand in his pocket as he entered the apartment.

He didn’t know for how long exactly he had been gone, but he knew that getting back to the living quarters took longer than getting away from there. It seemed like all the workers had found out about the breakout, and many of them had been running through the halls in some sort of frenzy. Akaashi had no idea how much time he wasted by ducking into closets and side doors to hide from them, but at least he didn’t think he was seen.

“Akaashi,” Mother said calmly, “where have you been? Our neighbours were worried sick when they knocked on the door to borrow something and found that you completely vanished.”

“I was out walking,” Akaashi said, priding himself on how calm he sounded.

“Out walking.”

“Yes. I had trouble sleeping, and I thought a walk might calm me down.”

“A 40 minute-long walk?”

Had it really been that long? “Well, I felt restless. I felt that walking would be better for me than just tossing and turning in bed. I knew that there was no power, but I thought the compound was very safe.”

“Yes, the building is very safe,” Mother said quietly, and Akaashi had the impression of some large predatory cat quietly circling him, waiting for the slightest sign of weakness to pounce. “However, you shouldn’t have been outside tonight. It seems the compound...isn’t as secure as we thought.”

“Why? What happened?” _Don’t crack, don’t crack, don't crack._

“The avian somehow broke out of containment and out of the compound.”

“What!?” Akaashi hoped to whatever higher powers there were that his feigned surprise was believable enough.

“Yes. We were extremely lucky that we caught up so quickly. He was almost outside the range of our radar, so if he were to fly away from there, we wouldn't be able to pick it up." So it seemed like the researcher was telling the truth about the compound's radar. She might've also been telling the truth about everything else, then. "Outside help was most certainly involved. The locks were undone. But the good news is, we have a suspect.”

“A suspect?” At this rate, his heart would work itself to death with how fast and hard it was beating.

“A researcher at this lab, sadly. It’s quite unfortunate that someone so closely involved in this work would turn on us like this,” Mother murmured.

So they didn’t suspect him at the moment, it seemed. “What makes you think they were the culprit?” he asked cautiously, daring to draw breath.

“She was found heading away from the deserted hallway where a shattered window was, which was where we suspected the avian exited the building from. She was also taking a suspiciously long time to complete the short task she was given. Very unfortunately for her, she now has to pay the consequences.”

“And what are those consequences? Getting fired? Jail time?” He pressed his hand to the table to keep it from shaking.

“Well, getting fired, yes. But as you know, this is a very special position in a secretive work environment. Getting fired comes with many other...things needed to be done.”

“Which are?” He could feel the cat’s claws inches from his throat, poised to tear, or about to back away.

Mother reached across the table and picked up a small opaque, unlabelled bottle that Akaashi somehow didn’t notice before. “This is called Oblivion. There is a medical name for it, but we prefer Oblivion. Much simpler,” she said as she held the bottle up. “It’s a drug. Very hard to make, and extremely, extremely powerful.”

“Powerful...how? What is it used for?”

She turned to peer at him. “This is top-secret. As part of your work, you are obliged to keep this classified. Otherwise, this drug might just have to be used.” Akaashi nodded, waiting for her to continue as she set the bottle back down. “I know this sounds unbelievable, but trust me, I would never joke about something as serious as this.” She paused, and Akaashi fought against the urge to fidget, the suspense drawing the tension in the room taut. “This drug, for lack of better words...is used to erase memories.”

“Erase...erase memories?”

Mother nodded.

“How...is that even ethical?”

“We don’t dwell much on ethics here, as I’m sure you already know. This drug is classified, and never meant to be mass-released, anyway. Anyone who agrees to work here understands that this is to be used if they want to leave.”

“But if you erase someone’s memories, wouldn’t you erase their knowledge as well? Thus rendering them useless?” He was torn between thinking that this was all a practical joke or being scared that such a thing as powerful as a memory-erasing drug existed.

“No. The drug works by targeting specific memories. Knowledge-based memories, such as knowing how to read or write, won’t be erased. However, experiences will be erased. Personal memories such as your name, where you grew up, that sort of thing, will also be erased. It basically causes the person it's administered to to forget everything except the knowledge they've picked up over the course of their life.”

“And you’re planning to use that...on the researcher you suspected helped release the avian.”

“Yes. You don’t believe me, it seems.” She stood up. “Why don’t you come to the labs to see how it’s done? This may be important to you, since you’re working in the labs now. Maybe this will be your introduction to the concept.”

He didn’t have a choice, it seemed. Just before they left for the labs, he made an excuse to duck into the bathroom and properly wrap his hand with some bandages from a first-aid kit.

The entire walk to the labs, Akaashi could fear the cold shadow of apprehension hovering over him. Had they really caught the researcher? She didn’t turn them over after all? But if she didn't, how did they know to find them so quickly?

He was led to the closed door of another room. “Stay here. We’ll be right back, because we need some equipment,” Mother said.

“May I go inside? I’d like to ask the researcher about what they did and why.”

After a short pause, she said, “Alright, go ahead. Just wait inside.”

Akaashi nodded, and pulled the door open and went inside, closing the door behind him. He had to hold back a gasp when he saw the researcher that helped them sitting on a flat table, one hand strapped to the table, bent at her side. Her white uniform was ruined, torn up and covered in bloodstains. When she looked up at him, surprise registered on her face, which was cut up and bloodstained. He hesitated, not sure how to begin a conversation.

“It’s okay,” the researcher said. “There aren’t microphones. You can talk.”

Swallowing around his tight throat, Akaashi asked, “So you didn’t betray us?”

“Why would I do that, when I could easily have sounded the alarm while you were still trapped in that hallway? Why do you ask?”

So she probably didn’t know. “The escape failed. Workers here came after us. Who were they, by the way?”

“Security personnel, probably. You don’t see them around much, but they tend to work more than one job here, anyway. So even if there was someone working in security, you might not recognize them.” She huffed out a breath. “Damn. You really got caught?”

“He did, but I don't think they found me. But did you hear about what they’ll do to you? They’re telling me-”

“Yeah, I am very aware of what’ll happen to me. Don’t worry, I already considered that I’d lose everything when I helped you.”

“You’re not even worried?” Now that he knew that she didn’t betray them and probably genuinely wanted to see Bokuto freed, fear for the lab worker whose name he didn’t even know was rising fast in his heart.

“I mean, who wouldn’t be?” The researcher shrugged with one shoulder, bowing her head and sighing. When she looked back up at him, her expression was oddly urgent. “Look. If we’re both on the same side, if we both truly want to see that friend of yours freed, you have to listen to what I say next. Got it?”

Slightly scared, Akaashi nodded.

“Listen. I don’t know if they’ll ramp up security. Either way, the only way you’ll be able to get as far as you tonight is if the power is down. Generator maintenance won’t be scheduled again for at least another few months, so you’ll have to short out the power yourself. There’s a hallway near the utility closets. You'll have to block out the cameras there with paint or something so they don't see you. There’s a door at the end of the hallway there that leads to the generators. The generators in this compound are programmed to completely shut down if they overheat, and require to be manually powered back on, which may or may not take a while. There are some vents in the generators that work to cool it down. Block up those vents with something. That’ll cause them to overheat and shut down. Of course, you’ll need to get out really quickly. There are other ways to screw up generators, but causing them to overheat is probably your best bet. Just do something to take out the power and buy you enough time to run around the compound.”

“Right. Thanks,” he said, slightly shocked at what was being told of him. Helping him and Bokuto get out of the compound upon seeing them was one thing, but actively telling him all the compound's weak points so he could try again was another different thing entirely.

“Alright. There’s one other thing. This’ll be difficult. Tell me, Akaashi, do you care about the lives of all avians?”

“I mean...I guess?” What was this?

“Listen carefully. There are more lives at play here than just your friend’s. There’s something in this lab called Project Nullifier. Information about it is stored in the compound’s archives. Break in there and find out everything you possibly can about it.”

“I’ve heard of Project Nullifier before, in a meeting I accidentally eavesdropped on. What is it? Why can’t you tell me?” Project Nullifier. The thing he knew was connected to him, but didn’t have the slightest clue on what it was about. Yet here was a researcher that apparently knew about it, but wouldn’t tell him.

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you what I know about it. Besides, I don’t know a lot of the fine details, just the big idea,” the researcher replied. “If you want to break into the archives, the best way is to short out the power. It’s locked by keycard, but if you short out all power, including the backup electricity, all keycard-locked doors will automatically unlock. You can switch off the backup power by just finding the control panel that controls the flow of electricity to this compound, and turn all the switches to the off position. Once you get inside the archives, everything's labelled alphabetically, so just find Project Nullifier's info the same way you'd find words in a dictionary. The information might be stored on paper, it might be stored on a hard drive, so bring a laptop with you just in case.”

“You obviously know a lot about this. You’re telling me to break into the archives to steal information about a top-secret project that you already know about yourself?”

“Project Nullifier is stranger and more important than you can ever imagine. Finding everything out yourself will be more impactful than just me telling you. And like I said, you won’t even believe what it’s about unless you see it for yourself,” the researcher said almost vehemently.

Akaashi stilled. Something connected to him that was so shocking and strange that he had to break into one of the compound’s most classified areas to find information because he wouldn’t believe anything else. And here was this researcher who risked everything to help him and would lose everything because of it, telling him that it was a good idea.

“I don’t know how much time there’s left,” the researcher said. “Remember, short out the generators by causing them to overheat. Take out all power to gain access to keycard-locked doors. During an escape, take out the window frames, not the glass, or short out all power completely and then escape through a door, but I don’t recommend that because of how easily you’ll be caught. I’d wish you luck, but I’m sure you’ll find a way despite everything.” She grinned at him, but it looked watery.

Footsteps sounded outside the door, and Akaashi whipped around to look at the researcher, but she only flashed him a slight smile and turned away again. The door opened to other scientists flooding the room, bringing in large piece of equipment that looked vaguely like an IV stand reinforced with metal plates, with several other arms sticking out of it and a lot of needles connected to the ends of tubes and wires. Akaashi watched, frozen with a numb horror as the scientists inserted needles into the researcher’s neck and arms. A plastic bag was filled with the drug poured from a bottle, and placed inside the device. Some switches were pulled.

He had never even known her name.

But it didn’t matter now. She herself wouldn’t even know her name now.

After the researcher slumped over on the table, unconscious, a hand guided Akaashi out of the room. He looked to see Father looking at him almost sympathetically.

“Well, that’s about all there is to this. Remember what you saw here, because this is the consequence of what will happen if you turn on the work we do here,” he said.

“What’ll happen to her?” Akaashi asked, almost mumbled through the dull anguish and detached grief flooding his head.

“It’s usual for people to fall comatose for a short period of time, before waking back up. We haven’t conducted that many tests, but the results seem pretty consistent. After waking, people tend to experience a period of confusion before beginning to relearn their surroundings and about themselves. After the confusion fades, anyone affected by the drug can go on to live a completely normal life.”

“No side effects?” Akaashi asked just to say something.

“Well, very few. Some side effects can involve brief periods of confusion, very constant dreams during sleep, or short flashbacks. But from what we studied, these have no negative impacts on the patient’s overall health.”

He dully nodded. So much had happened over the span of one night and so much new information had been thrown at him that he just felt drained at the moment. Emotions and whatever grieving there was would come later.

“And that’s about it for this explanation of Oblivion. Of course, the specifics of how exactly it works and all that is quite complicated, but all you need to know is that it exists and about the usage of it in this lab. Now, it’s been a long night. Why don’t you head back to the apartment? We need to continue working, so we’ll stay here.”

“Can I visit the avian?” he asked, inwardly flinching at referring to Bokuto as “the avian”. “I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep like this.”

Father gave him a strange look. “He’s not in a good state right now, but you can see him. We’ve moved him back to the same containment room. Check in and you can visit him.”

He left Akaashi to his own business then. After checking in on a computer, he ran all the way back to the old containment room, which was currently being watched by a pair of researchers. They let him in easily enough, waiting outside the antechamber.

He opened the door and headed inside, closing it behind him. “Bokuto-san?” he asked quietly. When no response came, he peered around the dimly lit large room, and his eyes landed on a form lying curled on the floor.

This wasn’t good for his heart. It had been beaten sick over the course of this night, shot through with emotions ranging from shock to fear to regret to sadness, and the sight before him was an axe blow to an already bleeding heart filled with glass shards.

Bokuto’s wings were gone. The only thing remaining of them were bloodied stumps poking out of his back, bloodied and stained red. Blood pooled around his form on the ground. When he took a closer look at his wings, the sight of raw flesh, coloured a dark reddish as it was stained with half-dried blood and uncovered by skin, and what almost looked like exposed bone turned his stomach and he was forced to avert his eyes.

He ran around him to face his front, flinching at the sticky warmth of blood that seeped into his clothing as he knelt in front of him in a puddle of blood as he reached out and placed a shaking hand on Bokuto’s shoulder, horror making him feel sick.

When Bokuto stirred, he jumped. Some time had passed. He wasn’t keeping track.

“Akaashi?” Bokuto asked, voice sounding like he had glass shards stuck in his throat.

“I’m here,” Akaashi whispered, party relieved and party still worried.

“Wh...how long has it been?”

“I don’t know. It’s still the same night, though.”

Bokuto pulled himself up into a sitting position, almost losing his balance before Akaashi gripped his shoulders and helped him upright. “Ugh, that hurts.”

Akaashi would ask if he was alright, but it didn’t seem fitting with what had apparently been done to him. “You said you can regenerate limbs, right? You’ll be okay? How long will it take?”

“I don’t know. I know that regenerating wings takes much less time than regenerating other limbs, though. About an hour?” he mumbled.

“As in 60 minutes? And each minute is 60 seconds?”

“Yeah. We count time the same way too, looks like.” He shook his head, seeming to clear some of the pain fogging his eyes.

That was almost...uncanny, but Akaashi didn’t comment on it. “So, how does limb regeneration work, then? How fast do they grow back? How do wings regenerate so quickly, when you said it takes a couple days for cuts to heal?”

“You’re talkative today, Akaashi.”

“I’m curious, Bokuto-san. And worried about you.”

“That’s sweet of you.”

“I’m not that sweet. Most people would say I’m pretty dry.”

“Aw, I got a dry person to care about me. That’s so sweet.”

Akaashi laughed before realizing it. Bokuto had frozen, watching him in surprise. Akaashi took a few seconds to observe him before throwing his head back and laughing brokenly. Then he buried his face in Bokuto’s bloodstained jacket, screamed, and then cried, the entire weight of everything that had happened in the span of this short night crashing over him.

“Akaashi!?”

“I’m so sorry. I'm so sorry. I’m so sorry, Bokuto-san. We both got caught, and then they did this to you. I’m so sorry I wasn’t more careful. They somehow found both of us.”

“Hey, don’t blame yourself.”

“How do you still trust me after tonight? After everything they did?”

“Because you didn’t have to do anything. There was no way I’d get out of here myself, but you actually went and got me out of this room, and tried to get me to run. I still don’t get why you wanted to escort me outside, but you do your thing, I guess.”

Akaashi lifted his head, wiping at his face before straightening, hand still clenched in Bokuto’s jacket. “Thanks. I mean it. Even after this was a total failure, you still trust me.”

“What about that other human? The one that helped us and then ran away?”

At the reminder of what happened to her, Akaashi fought against another wave of tears and clenched his teeth. 

“Akaashi?” Bokuto asked, gentle.

Somehow, that was what got him to crack. Head bowed, Akaashi explained to him the events of what happened in the labs and, simplifying some of the more complicated facts so that an avian that knew very little about humans could understand.

“They...really did that? They erased her memories? Can you humans actually do that?”

“Apparently. I didn’t even know they were able to do that until now,” Akaashi muttered. Why did they even bother to show him that? Unless it was just all some elaborate show? No, the memory-erasing part had to be real. The researcher that helped them had mentioned that she knew she’d lose her memory. And did they really have to give such an elaborate demonstration?

_Remember._

Unless… 

The cat’s claws at his throat…

“Unless they suspect me as well,” Akaashi murmured.

Bokuto raised an eyebrow. “What was that?”

“They did all that to threaten me...to threaten us,” Akaashi said, eyes widening. “They might already suspect me of helping you. That’s why they showed me the memory erasing serum. They wanted to threaten me with what they could do to me if I tried to help you again.”

He fell silent, before saying, “...So...if you just want to leave me, I completely understand, Akaashi. If you don’t want to lose your memory, I get that.”

Disbelief surged in him. “No! I won’t do that,” Akaashi said firmly, and Bokuto looked up in surprise. “If anything, tonight has just proved that I need to try harder to save you. You think I’d forget about that researcher so easily? I have no idea what she’s sacrificed, what she’s chosen to forget about in order to try again.” Sad eyes peering at him flashed through his head. “She’s chosen to forget about so much. She’s probably had family and friends that she left behind. I can’t let that go to waste. Of course I won’t abandon you, of course I’ll keep trying again!” When he was finished, he paused to draw breath.

Silence hung in the air for a few seconds. Bokuto then laughed suddenly, breaking the quiet, and said, “You might’ve made a good Scout, y’know. You have the mindset. The never give up, keep trying kinda mindset that might be enough to get you through training.”

“Maybe,” Akaashi said, but he was smiling.

They fell quiet again. In the silence, Akaashi only then noticed how close they were to each other, holding onto each other with their legs almost touching.

“Bokuto-san, you should know something,” he finally said quietly.

“Hm?”

“I haven’t been coming here to talk to you every night just because. The people here, they want to know as much about you as they can. They’ve been sending me here to play nice while they torture you behind the scenes, so I might be able to wheedle information out of you that they can’t forcefully take. I even asked them to do it, because I didn’t want you to get hurt. But they lied to me. And I hate it. After finding out about their torture methods, I’ve been lying to them for days and days now about what you’ve been saying, telling them things about how your home is very dangerous, about you still don’t talk much about yourself. But I don’t know how much longer it’ll be before they find out.” He then lowered his head, waiting for the response.

“You’ve had to be this strong by yourself, huh?” Bokuto finally said after a painful pause. “Listen. I’m kinda pissed that you did something like that and kinda glad that you thought to try to protect me, and I still have no idea how much I can trust you, but I think you’re my only hope now. So I guess I still have no choice but to trust you.”

“We’re still friends, right?” Akaashi asked, only half joking.

“We are. I’m honoured that you think of a foreign creature as a friend, though.”

“Don’t be silly. What have all these chats been for if not for friendship-building?”

“I dunno, info-digging so you can report back to the other humans?” he asked lightly.

“Okay then. Time for more info digging. Tell me, Bokuto-san, how is it that you can regenerate your wings in the span of an hour while shallow cuts take about two days to heal?”

He laughed, a real one this time. “...None of us actually know what causes it. We just know that wings take much less time to regenerate than other limbs. Having wings fully chopped off will take about an hour. Maybe less or more, depending on the avian. Having part of a wing cut off will take less than that. Depends on how much of the wing is removed.”

“And what about other limbs? Like arms or legs?”

“Those will take a while to regenerate. Several days at least. And they grow back slowly, in comparison to wing regeneration.”

“In comparison? What do you mean?” Akaashi asked, and then jumped when two large wings covered in black and white feathers suddenly shot out of Bokuto’s back, opening slightly behind him like a quick-blooming flower.

“That’s what I mean,” he replied. “They kinda just...grow back all in an instant like that, instead of gradually growing back like other limbs.” He then ruffled up his feathers, which looked thinner compared to the thick layer of feathers he had before getting his wings chopped off. “Argh. That feels nice. Having missing limbs isn’t a good feeling. The feathers might take a bit longer for all of them to grow back, but it shouldn’t take more than a day.”

“Does it hurt?” Akaashi asked, trying to slow the sudden spike in his heart rate.

“Kinda. Nowhere near as much as before.”

“That’s good.”

“What did it look like? I’ve actually never seen what it looks like. I’ve just learned about it.”

“Really...strange. At least, to me. It looked like they just...popped out of nowhere. That's...kind of cool. None of you know how it works?”

"No one knows how it works, and no one knows how to figure it out. I'm sure you humans might, though, with all the advanced stuff you have down here. If only humans were nicer and didn't want to torture every avian in sight to figure it out."

Oh, the irony of it all. "If only, if only," he replied.

They sat in another comfortable silence, before Bokuto asked, “Do you want to go? It’s probably pretty late by now. I think you’d want to sleep.”

“Can I stay here?” Akaashi surprised himself by asking. “I don’t think I’d be able to get any sleep anywhere else.”

“Yeah, you can stay. Don’t know why you’d prefer staying in the same cage as a dangerous avian, but not really my place to question,” Bokuto answered, sounding slightly surprised.

Once the two of them were on the top platform of the tower they would frequent, Akaashi lay down on his side parallel to Bokuto, wrapping a blanket around him. This didn’t feel like such a bad place to sleep, despite the fact that he was in a sterile containment room and still had drying blood on him.

“By the way, how’s your hand?” Bokuto asked.

“It’s alright. Doesn’t look infected.”

Silence hung around them for a few minutes, before Akaashi asked, “Are you asleep?”

“No.” Bokuto turned over onto his stomach, wings folded above him. “How do you think they found us so quickly, if you’re so sure the other human didn’t betray us? Didn’t she say that your ‘radar’ wouldn’t be able to sense us on the ground?”

“I really don’t know.” There really wasn’t a good explanation for it, unless they were actively being tracked. And being such a big part of this project, he’d think that the other scientists would tell him if Bokuto was chipped or had a tracker planted in him.

Chipped.

“My chip,” Akaashi whispered. “They might’ve tracked us through that.”

“You humans can do that too?”

“Of course. It’s probably much simpler than the whole memory-erasing thing, anyway.” Akaashi sat up, mind running through a spiral of paranoia and what-ifs. “I...didn’t think they could use it to actually track my location, though. I just thought it was for keeping track of health-related issues and the like. And besides, if they used my chip, they’d know I was outside with you. Why didn’t they confront me about it, then? Why did they not drag me back to the compound as well? Why did they just leave me there? None of this makes any sense.”

“You're right, it doesn't. But the next time, you might want to stay in the building,” Bokuto said.

“Yeah, probably.”

Akaashi lay back down, and Bokuto said, “Worry about it in the morning. Just go to sleep for now.”

He nodded, trying to get his worrying mind to just rest.

“Stop worrying, Akaashi.” As if to try and prove his point, Bokuto rolled onto his side so he was facing him, and then threw a wing over both of them. Akaashi froze at the surprising warmth and weight, practically pinning him to the floor. “Now go to sleep. Does this help?”

“I suppose, Bokuto-san,” he murmured. The foreign blanket of warmth, feathers, and muscle would take some getting used to, but he was already starting to relax into it.

“Then sleep. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Bokuto-san.”

Sleep, washing over him like a wave of tiredness and blackess, was surprisingly easy even with the position they were in. The physical weight and contact of the wing was almost comforting.

* * *

_Running, running, running. They weren’t far behind him. He had to keep moving. Spotting a particularly thick patch of bushes, Akaashi threw himself to the side and into the undergrowth, crouching there and letting his pursuers bypass him._

_Thorns tore at his clothes and skin. Once he was sure everything was quiet, Akaashi leapt out of the thicket and ran in the other direction. Crashing sounded behind him, and he dared to glance back at what was chasing him._

_Bad mistake. He wasn’t watching what was in front of him, so he was caught by surprise when the ground beneath him ended suddenly and he was pitching over open space._

_Wings shot out of his back._

It was a blessing to wake to his alarm instead of randomly in the middle of the night, even as annoying as his alarm was. Akaashi dragged himself out of bed. Ever since the attempted escape and sleeping in Bokuto’s containment room two days ago, he always seemed to have more trouble sleeping in his own bed than in the same room as Bokuto. What was wrong with him?

He dragged himself into the bathroom to clean up, and to get ready for the day. As he unwrapped his hand to change the bandages, he noticed with surprise that the cut from the glass had completely healed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 11/21/20: made several large edits
> 
> Somehow, this fic ended up centered primarily around Akaashi because Bokuto can't do much locked in his prison cell.
> 
> I know everything here might look weird at the moment, but I promise it'll all make sense in the end


	4. Chapter 4

“Tough day?” Bokuto asked. Akaashi seemed to be pretty tired most of the time these days, even more so since the disastrous escape attempt a week ago. But then again, it felt like Akaashi was the one trying to orchestrate everything in this elaborate plan of theirs for him to flee the humans' captivity, despite his insistence that he could help.

“Mmm. Yeah.” He leaned backwards, slumping against the wall. “I’ve just been worrying. Don’t mind.”

“Don’t overwork yourself. I feel like I should be responsible for at least part of the trouble I’m in.”

“No, don’t worry. None of this was your fault.”

“None of this was your fault either! You shouldn’t have to be responsible for everything here. You tried to help me, so let me try to do something, too.”

Akaashi blinked up at him. “You really mean that?”

“‘Course. Besides, it might be easier if we both know everything we’re supposed to be doing, right?”

He paused, then said, “Alright, Bokuto-san. There is...one other thing I’ve been worrying about, besides the whole botched escape.”

“What is it?”

“Right before she had her memory erased, the researcher here told me I needed to look for information on something.”

“Researcher? You mean that other human, the one you said lost her memory because she got caught trying to help us?”

“Yeah. She told me I had to find information on something called ‘Project Nullifier’. And I’m not completely sure, but I think it has information relating to other avians.”

“Wait, really?” Other avians. This was worth discovering. This could be proof of prior contact between humans and avians. He didn’t know if he should be surprised, if he should be happy, or if he should dread the idea.

“Well, she mentioned something like ‘if you care about all avians, then you should try to find out what it’s about’, so probably.” Akaashi ran a hand through his hair. “The problem is, what I need to find is locked in one of the most secure areas of the compound, and getting there requires a lot of planning and tampering with the compound’s systems. I really don’t know what order I should be doing this in. Should I be trying to save you first, or should I be breaking in and entering to find out classified information? Not to mention the whole load of trouble I’ll be getting into if I get found out.”

“What sort of trouble?”

“Remember how I told you that apparently humans can now erase memories, and how they did that to the researcher - human - that helped us? That’s what’ll happen to me if I get caught.”

“Seriously?” Part worried, part disbelieving, and part surprised, Bokuto leaned back on his hands.

“It was heavily implied,” Akaashi answered. “But the thing is, if I lose my memory, I won’t be around to help you anymore. Everything’s telling me that the logical thing to do is to first help you escape, but at the same time, I think you’d want to know if there was information concerning avians here.”

“You’re right, I do want to know.” He sighed. “This is a hard choice.”

“I want to go with the logical choice, but why is it that I want to do something illogical?”

“Hey, it’s okay to be illogical at times. Not everything will be that simple. Besides, I don’t think it’s that illogical. I want to know about whatever you humans already know about avians. Besides, Project Nullifier. Totally doesn’t sound like the name of an ominous project potentially dangerous to all avians.” Bokuto tipped his head to one side. “It’s your choice, but I want to find out what Project Nullifier is.”

“So you’re saying I should try to break into the compound’s archives to steal data before helping you flee your captivity.”

“Basically, yeah.” As he said it, a fear for Akaashi’s safety rose in his chest. “Just don’t get caught, okay?”

“Of course, Bokuto-san.”

“Will you ever drop the ‘san’ from my name? I feel like you don’t need to be so formal, especially with everything you’re risking for me.”

“Maybe.” Akaashi sighed softly. “I don’t know. It’s just a habit to be formal.”

“I don’t mind informality.”

“Well, I’ll keep that in mind, then.” Changing the subject, he said, “Alright, I’m still thinking about the decision on what to do. Now, do you want to get into the info-digging? We can’t keep the researchers - the other humans - hanging forever, shall we? Let’s come up with some lies to tell.” Akaashi half-smiled as he said the last part, lips twisting into a jokingly sly smile that made Bokuto’s heart jump.

“Of course, of course.”

* * *

One turn, walk down this corridor, the second exit, so on and so forth. The walk to the labs were almost as familiar as his own living quarters at this point. Akaashi didn’t hesitate once as he wove through the corridors, opening the door to the labs where he had his check-in with his ID card and stepping inside.

Strangely, there was no one around. There was always at least one other worker in the labs whenever Akaashi went inside, save for when he was checking into the labs in the middle of the night to visit Bokuto.

He signed in on a lab computer, when he noticed that the door leading to the conference room, which was usually open, was closed. So it seemed that the workers here were having a meeting or something.

Sticking close to the wall so the camera had trouble picking him up as he made his way down the short hallway to the conference room, Akaashi pressed the side of his head to the door and strained his ears, listening to the strains of muffled conversation he could pick up. Surprise registered when he heard slightly raised voices, as if in a panic.

“No, I’m telling you, that is absolutely out of the question!”

“And why not? Project Nullifier has proven that it’s gone completely out of control! You saw what happened the night that the avian almost escaped!”

“Do not talk about the subject like that!” That sounded like Father.

Heart in his throat, Akaashi held absolutely still and continued to listen.

“But it’s true, isn’t it? You’ve gotten too attached to the subject, Doctor. Both of you have. Trust me, we have to eliminate this threat before it gets too big. We have already been threatened with too much on the line. Besides, we don’t need to get rid of it completely. We now know that Oblivion works on avians, so where’s the harm in using it again?”

Whatever came next, Akaashi didn’t hear. _We now know that Oblivion works on avians._ There was only one possible avian in the compound that they possibly could have tested the drug on.

He quickly crept out of the labs. Once he had closed the door behind him, he turned and sprinted through the hallways, skidding around corners before continuing to run, mind running far ahead of himself.

So Oblivion was legitimate. This could only confirm it. And it worked on avians. But if they were to use it on Bokuto, why didn’t they tell him beforehand? Well, it didn’t matter at the moment. All that mattered now was getting to Bokuto and making sure he was okay.

He slowed to a stop in front of the antechamber, breath coming hard and fast. Thankfully, the workers decided that it wasn’t necessary to post guards outside of the containment room 24/7, so there was no one to see him in such a state.

“Bokuto-san?” he called out, panicked, as he ran into the containment room after closing the door securely behind him, terrified of seeing something akin to what he had seen the night of their failed escape, when Bokuto was caught again and tortured.

“Akaashi? Why the panic?” Bokuto asked easily, looking confused as he peered down from the top platform where he was perched. He didn't look disoriented, or confused. In fact, he looked better than he normally did, which was probably mostly due to the fact that he lately hadn't been dragged out of his containment room to be tortured for more information. (Maybe the lies they were working together on to tell the researchers here were helping, a little.)

“You...you recognize me?”

“Uh, yeah. Why wouldn’t I? Nothing’s happened to me today. Why are you so worried?”

“I heard...I heard…” Akaashi stammered. So, they probably didn’t use Oblivion on Bokuto, because he could recognize him. Why how were they able to test it out on other avians, when they said they had never seen an avian other than Bokuto before? Deciding that it was best just to lay it out flat to Bokuto why he was so worried before thinking any deeper, Akaashi said as he tried to calm himself down from the panic he had worked himself into, “Remember what I told you about? About how humans are apparently able to erase others’ memories?”

“Yep. What’s this got to do with me?”

“I...I listened in on one of the workers’ meetings. They said that they knew that Oblivion, what they use to erase memories, worked on avians. I was scared that they used it on you.” Maybe later, Akaashi would be more embarrassed over his wording, but at the moment, he was just relieved nothing happened to Bokuto.

“No...I remember everything clearly. You said that it could cause periods of confusion after being used, but I don’t feel confused at all.”

“But...that only means that they tested it on other avians before you,” Akaashi murmured as he began to climb the ladder. It was the only explanation that made sense. “But the thing is, they always said that you’re the first avian that anyone’s ever seen, and that everything we could learn from you is a completely new discovery. If they really know it works on avians, then it means they lied to me about you being the only avian ever to be seen. Why?”

“...That is a very good question,” Bokuto said as he moved to make room for Akaashi on the platform. “Maybe they just wanted an upper edge? Wanted to hold more information than you?”

Uneasy, Akaashi said, “That means that there _have_ been previous encounters between humans and avians. This confirms it. The people here just wanted to keep it secret.” He looked away, not wanting to know which was better, the fact that Oblivion might have been used on Bokuto or that there had previously been avians in the lab, kept hidden, as the implications of what he had realized began to flood his brain. 

Interactions between humans and avians. He had no idea how they had gone, but it had to mean that the scientists here already knew a little about avians, whereas it seemed that avians knew barely anything about humans. What’s more, how were they treated? If it was anything like Bokuto’s treatment here, then it meant that they probably died, scared and in pain. And he had never known anything about it until now.

“Akaashi. You’re worrying, I can tell,” Bokuto said gently, lightly smacking his shoulder and snapping Akaashi out of the spiral of worry and dark thoughts he was starting to fall into. “Look, there’s nothing you can control when it comes to problems like that. Now let’s focus on what we can do, yeah? How’s to breaking into the archives to find out more about this?”

The archives. Breaking in to find information on Project Nullifier. That’s right. “I also heard something about Project Nullifier,” Akaashi said.

“Really? What?”

“They said something like it was getting out of hand and needed to be brought back under control, and then they mentioned something that happened the night of our failed escape. They didn’t give specifics, but it seemed to be a fairly big issue. That was when Oblivion’s effectiveness on avians was brought up.”

“So, Project Nullifier is connected to avians,” Bokuto reasoned.

“And probably both of us,” Akaashi said, thinking back on the first meeting he had listened in on and deciding that it might be best for Bokuto to know. “In an earlier meeting I eavesdropped on, someone said that it was best to just let me keep working with what I already had when it came to trying to get information out of you, and then it was brought up. Again, they talked about how difficult it was to keep under control.”

“Oh.” Bokuto leaned back, eyes wide. “You know what this means, right?”

“What?”

“You have to break into the archives first, before we plan to break out. It’s very clear that humans have interacted with avians before, and we know that Project Nullifier is connected to avians and both of us. There’s no reason why this shouldn’t take top priority here.”

“You know, if I get caught, you’ll have to escape on your own?” Akaashi asked weakly.

“I know. But I also know that I have to find out what all this mystery is about. Just don’t get caught, Akaashi. Simple as that.”

“I…” muttered Akaashi before cutting off. Those were all good points. Besides, Bokuto deserved to know if there had been previous interactions between humans and avians, after everything he had gone through. And also, Akaashi had no plans forgetting everything he had experienced and seen over the course of his life.

“So, you’ll do it?”

“Yeah, I’ll do it,” he breathed, sealing his decision with those few words.

* * *

_Akaashi tapped his fingers on the window ledge as he peered into a sterile white room from another viewing room. A bunch of doctors and surgeons were moving around, operating on a figure lying on the operation table that was blocked from view._

_“Akaashi? Are you okay?” someone asked, and Akaashi turned to see Bokuto standing beside him, observing what was happening in the operation room._

_“Yeah. Why wouldn’t I be?” Akaashi replied._

_“I don’t know. You seemed kinda stressed,” he answered, ruffling his black and white feathers up as he shifted his wings. “Are you sure you’re okay?”_

_“Of course.” He turned back into the observation room, and noticed with surprise the apparatus that was being brought into the room. It was the IV stand used to administer Oblivion, being brought into the room by a pair of doctors._

_“Hey, Akaashi? Why did you come here?” Bokuto asked._

_Akaashi opened his mouth to respond, only to realize that he didn’t remember why he was here. Why was he watching at the window? He had lots of other work he should be doing._

_He turned to Bokuto in alarm, and fear shot through him when he saw that Bokuto was covered in blood that hadn’t been there before. A blur of silvery metal shot through the air, and he watched, frozen in fear as Bokuto’s wings were severed completely from his body in one slash._

_Bokuto’s face remained impassive and he didn’t make a sound, continuing to stand still. It was worse than if he were crouching on the floor, crying out in pain._

_However, instead of falling to the floor, the pair of severed wings floated up, folding around Bokuto. Akaashi felt horror freeze his blood solid in his veins as the wings began to melt, melted flesh and blood oozing out of the dissolving feathers and dripping to the floor. The feathers had melted into a mass of white and black, stained in places by red blood._

_The melted feathers began to wrap around Bokuto’s form, solidifying until he was wearing a bloodstained lab coat._

_Akaashi backed away, and turned his head away in order to stop looking at the horror in front of him. He instead looked back through the observation glass, only to see that all the doctors had backed away from the operating table._

_Lying on the operating table was himself, mangled wings unfolded behind him, head turned to the side and lifeless green eyes staring straight at him._

This time, Akaashi woke screaming.

He buried his face into his blanket as he quieted down, trying to take deep breaths through the blanket to calm himself. Thankfully, his parents were out working tonight. Hopefully, no one heard him through the walls either.

Not wanting to move, Akaashi curled deeper around himself, scared that he’d see the horrors in his dreams standing over him if he looked up. It was irrational, but it was a feeling that he couldn’t shake.

When he finally dared to get up, legs shaking, there was only one place in mind.

Changing as quickly as he could, trembling all over, he headed out of the apartment and through the darkened halls. He moved quickly, not wanting to dwell in one place too long, remnants of the nightmare and tremors of fear still wracking his form and hanging in his mind.

Checking in at the labs had never felt so cumbersome than tonight. All he wanted at the moment was some company. He was quick making his way to the containment room, closing the door behind him and quickly climbing up the ladder.

“‘Kaashi?” Bokuto asked blearily, raising his head off the floor of the platform.

“Sorry. Bad dream. I can stay here, right?” Akaashi asked, sitting down beside Bokuto. Now that he was slightly more awake, he was starting to feel at least some embarrassment of what he was doing, but it wasn’t enough to deter him.

“‘Course.” Bokuto ran a hand over his shoulder, and Akaashi stilled at the contact. “You’re shivering. Come here.” He opened one wing as he lay back down, creating a space at his side.

Maybe in the morning, Akaashi would be more embarrassed at this. It still seemed like he still wasn’t quite awake enough, because he only hesitated briefly before pressing close to Bokuto, sliding underneath his wing.

This time, it didn’t take very long for him to calm down, half-buried under an avian wing. It took a surprisingly short amount of time for him to fall back asleep, cuddled close to Bokuto and blanketed by a weighty mass of muscle and soft, warm feathers.

* * *

_Warm sunlight filtered down around him, wind blowing gently around him. The trees around him were quiet as Akaashi wandered through a thin grove of scattered trees and tall grasses, evening sunlight bathing everything in a gauzy golden glow._

_Bright laughter echoed through the trees, and he turned to follow the source of the noise. A flash of familiar yellow eyes and black and white wings flickered through the trees, and Akaashi ran after the sound._

_Bokuto stayed just out of sight, only a familiar silhouette darting through the trees, leading him somewhere. When he broke through the treeline, he saw Bokuto standing at the edge of a cliff, smiling at him, backlit by the setting sun. White stretched out beyond him, as if the two of them were standing at the edge of an island suspended in the sky, in a sea of clouds._

_Akaashi walked up to him, asking him what was happening. In response, Bokuto only grinned at him, stepping forward and taking his wrists in his hands. Before Akaashi could ask what was happening, Bokuto started running, dragging Akaashi with him to the edge of the cliff and then jumping out into open air and pulling him with him before he could protest._

_Wings shot out of his back, and then he was flying, weaving through the air, Bokuto guiding his flight._

A warm, drowsy feeling of peacefulness was filling Akaashi’s head when he blinked his eyes open. It was still fairly dark, but much lighter than it had been in the middle of the night. Dawn shouldn’t be far off.

He tried to shift, but he didn’t get far. He was still practically pinned to the floor by Bokuto’s wing, wrapped in warmth, both from the avian asleep beside him and the blanket wrapped around both of them. To his surprise, the weight felt like something he had already gotten used to. The close contact and the wing thrown over him felt comfortably familiar already.

Relaxed as he was, it didn’t take long for him to drift back to sleep.

* * *

When Bokuto woke, there was a foreign weight against his front and tucked under his chin, a form underneath his wing. Sunlight was already streaming in through the ceiling window.

The sleep-muddled events of last night returned to him, and he lifted his wing to wake Akaashi, only to freeze at the sight. He had never seen Akaashi so relaxed before, cuddled against him with fingers tangled in his shirt.

Usually, Akaashi was already stunningly pretty, but there was something enchanting about seeing someone so formal and composed and constantly worrying over their next move, in such a relaxed, unguarded state.

Pausing for a few seconds to (somewhat guiltily) commit the sight to memory, Bokuto shook Akaashi’s shoulder. “Hey. Akaashi. Wake up.”

“Mmm.” Akaashi only adjusted his grip on his shirt as he stirred, fumbling around for a little before he found his wing, pulling it back over him and burrowing into the feathers.

“Eh? Akaashi?” Well, curse it all if Bokuto’s heart didn’t jump and then partially melt at the sight, half endeared and half surprised at such a blatant display of affection.

“Mm?” He slowly opened his eyes, peering up at Bokuto, and then froze as realization set in. “Fuck,” Akaashi then said eloquently before immediately releasing his wing, flailing around, and then dragging himself up into a sitting position.

“Well, at least someone’s awake,” Bokuto joked as he sat up, trying to keep his heart from working itself to death from the adorable sight.

“Not quite entirely awake, it seems. I’m so sorry if I overstepped my boundaries, Bokuto-san,” Akaashi said, running a hand through his hair and pushing it back from his face.

“No need to worry, Akaashi. It’s not as if I woke up to you hanging onto me, then see you cuddle my wing and then hide underneath it like a blanket,” he teased.

“Dear lord. Please don’t remind me.”

“Nah. It was pretty cute. I liked it.”

“You…?” Seeming to flail around for words, Akaashi fell silent.

“Don’t worry, like I said. You’re cute when you’re sleepy.”

“Whyyy….” This might be the closest he would ever see Akaashi to whining, but it was cute either way.

“Sorry if I seemed creepy saying that,” Bokuto said, shifting subjects. “Are you sure you suffer from nightmares that badly? You seemed pretty okay waking up.”

“Yeah. It’s strange. I normally don’t have bad dreams when I’m with y- with other people,” Akaashi muttered.

“That’s sweet. Charmed.”

“Mn.”

“So...uh...do you have any other work to be doing?”

“I probably do. I should go, though, in case I get found here,” Akaashi said.

“Okay. Don’t forget about Project Nullifier, yeah?”

“Of course.” He paused, then said, “I’m...actually planning to get this done tomorrow. I’m planning a test run tonight, asking for a tour of the archives so I know what it looks like, before breaking in to steal information.”

“Really?” He was suddenly serious, all the cheer and softness from waking up and seeing Akaashi subconsciously cuddle his wing gone.

“Yes. I do have some concerns, such as them being able to track me with my chip. I don’t know how accurately they’ll be able to track me, if the chip really can be used for tracking. Hopefully, by completely bringing down the electricity, it’ll also take out any chance they have of tracking me. That’s all I can do, however. It’s not like I can cut the chip out of my arm.” He sighed. “Wish me luck.”

Trying to sound as cheerful as he could, Bokuto smiled at him and said, “I would, but I’m sure you can do it without my luck. But because you asked, good luck.”

It was worth it, to see Akaashi smile brightly back at him. Maybe nearly choking on air at the sight wasn’t as worth it, but it was a beautiful sight either way.

* * *

Rows and rows of shelves, dimly lit by a few lights in the low ceiling, and the rows and aisles of shelves marked by letters, some marked by numbers. The shelves were stacked with paper and folders and hard drives alike. Akaashi ran these sights through his mind, from what he had seen of the archives on the tour yesterday. Tonight was the break-in. The general atmosphere surrounding him was eerily similar to the night of their failed escape, one of tension and nervousness and an approaching event that would have big results no matter how it turned out.

It was evening and he was sitting curled in his desk chair in the apartment, apprehension pulling at his nerves. He knew where everything was located and how to get there, but the most difficult part was actually getting it done. Tapping on the desk just so he could fidget, he ran his simple plan through his mind over and over again.

Bring a laptop and flashlight. Paint and cloth. Get to the basement. Overheat the generators. Turn off the remote power. Then run to the archive doors. Get inside. Search for files pertaining to Project Nullifier.

A knock on his bedroom door startled him, and Akaashi called out a “Come in!” that he hoped didn’t sound too rattled.

“Akaashi?” Mother asked, opening the door. “...Are you okay?”

“Um, yes. Why wouldn’t I be?” he answered, slightly surprised at the sudden question and nature of said question.

She opened his door further and stepped halfway inside. “Me and your father were just preparing to head to work. But you’ve seemed...distant over the last couple weeks, and we thought that it’s better to have this talk as soon as possible. Are you sure everything’s alright?”

Well, he was just preoccupied with saving a captive avian, but now that it was brought up, he did feel slightly guilty for turning away from basically everything else to focus on helping Bokuto. “Yeah. I know...I’ve seemed indifferent, but I’ve just...got lots of work, that’s all.”

Mother sighed as Father joined her by the bedroom door. “I think we’ve needed to have this talk for a while now,” he said. “Listen, Akaashi, I know we’ve all been pretty distant from each other over the last several years. The two of us have been busy with work, and it’s all pretty secretive, so we’re used to not talking much. But then...we’ve been tasked with looking after a kid, and it’s...not something we were used to. If there’s anything wrong…”

“No, nothing’s wrong. I’ve been fine, even if we don’t talk all that much,” Akaashi said. Damn, all this sentimental talk was going to make him feel guilty about what he was about to attempt. Besides, this topic had been brought up briefly before, but never dwelled on for very long.

“Even so, communication is a big part of a relationship, but we both feel like we haven’t really been fulfilling that aspect all that well. We stepped in pretty last-minute, and being parents in this line of work is difficult, so please tell us if something’s going wrong between us,” Mother said.

“I will, I will. But can I ask, what are you even doing in those labs? What was this compound even built for?”

“We can’t tell you any specifics, but this compound was built in a remote area to allow us to study a variety of things. One of the most prevalent is atmospheric changes,” Father said, surprising him because he didn’t expect such a concrete answer.

“Well, we better get going,” Mother said. “We’ll continue this talk when we get back tomorrow morning, okay? Because this is long overdue.”

Akaashi nodded in response and sat back in his chair, and watched his open bedroom door as his parents left the apartment. He then turned back to his desk, and breathed out, long and tired. He really did feel slightly guilty for what he was planning now, but it wasn’t like he had a choice. He owed this to Bokuto.

From what he had seen from his little time in the labs, it took several minutes for all the scientists to settle down to their work. The best time for this, then, was at least several minutes later. It would take longer for them to reach the generators after they locked themselves in the lab.

Hands trembling slightly, Akaashi unplugged his charging laptop, and slid it inside a backpack he was using to carry everything he needed. He then checked over all the other materials he was bringing, including a small emergency flashlight, some non-toxic paint and paintbrushes to black out the cameras, and cloth and paper to block up the generator vents.

One by one, he placed them into his bag, sealing it closed before pulling it over his back, carefully testing the weight of everything piled inside. Lights out wasn’t far off. Not only was the compound darkened during lights out, everyone tended to be inside their apartments or locked in their rooms of some work station. Not many people were fond of wandering the halls during this time, which was also why it was the best possible time for Akaashi to break just about every rule of living in this compound just to find out what was so important about this one project.

All of the overhead lights in the compound turned off and only the emergency lights were left on. Akaashi had never been particularly impatient, but now, apprehension at the ridiculous task in front of him made him want time to pass faster, just so he could get this over with. It was funny, almost, that the thing he wanted most when faced with such a daunting, unavoidable task, was just to hurry up and get it done.

The next ten minutes were probably both the shortest and longest minutes of his life, a period of time that dragged by in the blink of an eye. He was both relieved and filled with dread when he got up head out of the apartment, pulling the hood of his sweater as low over his head as he could. Once he was sure that he was far enough from the living areas that he wouldn’t look too suspicious, he began to run, making sure to keep his volume down.

Quiet as an owl, he darted from corridor to corridor. Everything looked almost the same, but he knew his way around well enough not to be fooled. He knew he was on the right track when the corridors started becoming more and more unfamiliar the further he got.

When he arrived at the hallway that led to the basement, he quickly made sure to check that no one was around before setting his bag down on the floor and taking out the paint and paintbrushes.

Jumping around and reaching up as high as he could to paint over the camera lens while trying to stay in the blind spots as much as possible probably made him look really stupid, but there wasn’t anything he could do with that. At least he wasn’t seen.

Having already made his way to the end of the hallway, he pulled the door leading downstairs open and ran down the flight to steps into the basement.

The first thing he thought was that the generator room was loud. Really loud. Even though only a couple of the several large generators in the room were active, they still made quite a bit of noise. Pulling his hood over his head and ears to try and block out the noise, he darted through the room, past the generators to the back wall where the control panel was.

For good measure, he flicked every single switch there was to the off position, before moving on to the generators themselves.

The vents weren’t hard to reach, and the lids were quite easy to pull off. Moving as quickly as he dared around the equipment, he wadded up the cloth and paper bundles he had brought and stuffed down the vents before shoving the lids back on.

Once everything was in place, he turned around and ran out of the room, up the stairs and back down that corridor, an almost hysterical laugh threatening to rise out of his throat at the thought of what he just did.

There were many unspoken rules when it came to living in the compound. Quite a few of them could just be boiled down to: “don’t mess around with the utilities or equipment relating to them”. The rest could be boiled down to: “don’t disturb the workers here, and don’t try to snoop around to find out their secret work”.

Weeks ago, Akaashi had already broken the rule of “don’t disturb the workers” when he ran after them and found out they had shot Bokuto out of the sky in a storm, and then later specifically requested to work with the avian they captured. Now, he had broken the rules of “don’t mess around with the utilities”. And he was just about to break the final rule of “don’t snoop around to find out what secret business the scientists are working on”.

He pressed himself to the wall as he closed his bag again after taking his flashlight out. Really, how had it come to this? How and when had it come to him going against everything established in this compound?

Well, maybe it was seeing Bokuto tortured and bleeding on the floor. Maybe it was him seeing the workers’ complete disregard for the safety of a living creature they had caged and tormented. But either way, here he was now. After giving himself a minute, he began to run again after pulling his bag back over his shoulder and he felt like he wasn’t going to burst out into crazed laughter. The one disadvantage of the loss of that feeling of insanity, however, was that he was then easy prey to the nervous tenseness that was pulling his nerves in every direction as he tried not to be seen.

When all the lights shut down, it was so sudden that Akaashi nearly tripped over his own feet. But the first part of his work was done. Fumbling for the light switch and turning on his flashlight, he continued to move, albeit slower than before.

Navigating the deserted hallways in near complete darkness broken only by the thin beam of his dim flashlight gave off a completely different feel than walking through halls lit up by emergency lights. Apprehension, bordering the edge of the abyss that was terror, made his breath short.

But still, he kept moving. When he stopped in front of the hallway that led to the stairwell leading into the archives, he felt every muscle in his body tense. Here it was.

The door was unlocked. Walking down a flight of stairs had never felt so final before.

He had been inside the archives once before, on the tour yesterday. There was always an entirely different atmosphere in this part of the compound, knowing that this was the restricted section that contained the total wealth of knowledge gained from all the years of work in this compound. And here he was, planning to raid the archives.

 _1, 2, 3… Project Nullifier starts with a letter, so it's past the numbers section. B, C, D…_ Akaashi made a mental note of the signs that his flashlight landed on as he ran past isles. He felt tense, but not in the same way that when he was out in the open in the hallway.

_L, M, N, O….P. Project Nullifier. It should be organized by the first letter of the first word in its name, right?_

He turned and slowed to a brisk walk as he veered down the alley and scanned the shelves. _Project Nullifier. Project...R comes after P._

He slowed down even further, to a slow amble as he scanned the shelves closer, reading the names written on the folders lying on piles on the shelves. _R...Project...O…after the first word comes “Nullifier”...so N next...there!_

It didn’t stand out in the slightest. There were no signs of “Classified” stamped in red paint on the unassuming brown folder sitting on a shelf. There was only the words “Project Nullifier” written in marker in slanted handwriting. When Akaashi stopped and approached the folder containing what was apparently so important and shocking that he needed to break in here to see what it was about, there was no great fanfare. Just him standing in front of a shelf at chest height, staring at a brown folder that didn’t stand out in the slightest among the low stacks of sheets and files around it.

It was probably a good idea to just shove the entire thing in his bag and run, but he didn’t know how often the archives were checked by the workers here. If he took it with him, they might notice immediately, so he simply set his bag on the ground beside him and set his flashlight on the shelf beside the folder.

The flashlight didn’t give off that much light and it was probably terrible for his eyes to read in such low light, but hey, he at least had good night vision. He didn’t give himself any time to wait before opening the file, knowing that if he waited any longer, he might never open it.

The researcher was right. There were both sheets of paper and a hard drive sitting in the file, so Akaashi opened his bag and pulled his laptop out of it, setting it down on the shelf as well. Setting the hard drive to the side so he could open it up in his computer later, he took a deep breath and turned back to the folder. Squinting at the first page, which was dated about thirteen years ago from now, he began to read. The few paragraphs written there seemed more like a diary entry than a lab report, signed with the name of a scientist.

_As of today, a wealth of information about the race of winged people has been dropped straight in front of us. A child, seeming to be about four years of age by human standards, was found falling from the sky in a storm, as ludicrous as it sounds. The main reason it seemed to have survived the fall was gliding on its fairly undeveloped wings._

_For some strange reason, all specimens we've seen of the “avians”, as this race of people call themselves, have tended to appear around the time of late summer and early autumn, and this one is no exception. However, there have only been a few other individuals we have met and detained in these labs, so there is not enough evidence to suggest a correlation between the two._

_Unlike all of the other specimens we have encountered, this avian appears to be a child, as stated before. This raises the question of how we should handle this specimen, as it is obviously too young to understand much about this world, and it’s uncertain as to how much it knows about its race and how much information we can glean from it._

_We will continue to observe it for the moment. As questionable as our morals here are, it still would be horrendous to harm a child, or to put such a young child through the same processes we have put the other specimens through. Especially due to the fact that the processes we put the other avians through all resulted in their deaths._

This was only the first page. This was only the first page, and already, so much of his view on the lab and the workers here had been destroyed. It was confirmed: not only were there previous interactions between avians and the workers here, the avians were tortured and killed, or died here due to illness or injuries or complications. And now, they workers here have apparently found an avian child.

He flipped through the next few pages, which were each dated several days before the previous page. All of them detailed the scientists’ observations on the avian child they had found.

They didn’t kill that avian, right?

The next few sheets of paper were a written transcript of an interview between a researcher and the avian child. A few sheets later, he came to a page that caught his attention, dated about a couple months from the first sheet in the file.

_We’ve run into trouble. Due to the nature of the specimen, we have not done any strenuous or stressful tests on the subject. Our plan of action has been just to take care of the child as best as we can for the time being, but our plan has completely been altered by news._

_The funders of this compound, our superiors, whom we report all our findings and information to, are not pleased with this new development. They fear the presence of an avian among humans, which is understandable, to be fair. Avians have been observed to be much stronger and faster than humans, possessing flight and amazing healing and regeneration abilities as well as much sharper senses. A single avian can be much more dangerous than a group of several humans._

_They demand that the specimen be killed, due to fears of avian strength. But this means an opportunity wasted, and a valuable source of information lost. We have been trying to fight this order, but the future prospects look bleak._

Dread pooled in his stomach. This child was probably killed, then.

_The order is final. There’s no way for us to resist._

Well, then. He flipped to the sheet after that one to read, and then froze at what he saw.

_A pair of scientists here have suggested another option. Instead of killing the avian, they have suggested that we assimilate this avian into the human world here while telling our superiors that the avian was killed. In this case, not only will we be saving a child’s life, we will also be given the opportunity to observe the development of an avian child in a human environment._

_Of course, this will need to be hidden from our superiors. Our plan will be to mask the avian as a human child of two scientists here, two of which have volunteered for the job of playing the role as the adoptive parents._

_The avian must also never have reason to believe that he is anything but human. We will need to find a way to nullify the avians’ natural healing properties, so that he will never suspect that he’s not human. Thus begins: Project Nullifier._

So, the avian was still alive. Probably. Is this what the researcher meant? That Akaashi also needed to find the avian still alive as hidden as a human in this compound, and help him escape the compound with Bokuto? But then that also raised the question: were there more avians in this compound, or just the one?

No, there should just be the one. Bokuto had mentioned that the last avian child to fall off the edge of the island had been thirteen or fourteen years ago. Unless the avian mentioned here was from another island than Fukurodani, there shouldn’t be any others.

Akaashi shook his head, and flipped to the next page. Instead of another diary entry, this one was organized into something similar to a checklist.

_Project Nullifier_

_Date: xx/xx/xx_

_Subject: the avian found on xx/xx/xxxx_

_Subject details: specimen is an avian child, which needs to be hidden as a human with avian abilities nullified_

_Project details: Due to circumstances, this avian child needs to be disguised as a human hidden in this lab, and cannot discover or have any suspicion of his true heritage. Our first step will be to erase all his memories, using Oblivion, and give him a false backstory. Oblivion’s effectiveness on avians is untested, but if avians’ brain structure is similar enough to that of humans’, it should be effective enough. Our false story will be that this child’s parents were killed in a car crash, and he’s lost his memory due to head trauma..._

No. This couldn’t be. It had to be a coincidence. Besides, Akaashi hasn’t really talked much to the other kids in this compound. It might be someone else.

_Our false story will be that this child’s parents were killed in a car crash, and he’s lost his memory due to head trauma. The next step will be to remove the wings, and keep him from regenerating them. What we can do to best accomplish this is to use non-fatal poison, to weaken and occupy the avian’s immune system and regenerative abilities. In theory, the avian’s natural healing strength will be directed to cleansing the poison out of the body, leaving no energy for the wings to regenerate. The poison will have to be administered on a regular basis._

Poison. Okay. So, if the avian was still alive and hidden in this compound, he needed to stop the regular administrations of poison to allow the avian to regenerate. Akaashi paused to read the name of the poison administered, some scientific name he didn’t recognize.

_Our final step will be to have the avian chipped in some way. The best choice for such a thing will be a chip planted in the skin, powered with heat produced from the avian’s body. The chip will be able to track the avian’s physical location and detect levels of poison in the bloodstream, and will issue an alert when poison levels run too low and the avian has a risk of regenerating his wings._

A chip. All of these things were alarmingly, glaringly familiar, but Akaashi didn’t allow himself to think too much of it. This couldn’t possibly be true. If it was all true, then it meant everything he thought he knew was a lie.

_Current project status: pending_

He flipped to the next page in the file, which was dated about a week later.

_Project Nullifier_

_Date: xx/xx/xxxx_

_Subject: the avian found on xx/xx/xxxx_

_Subject details: Oblivion has been administered, operation to remove wings has been performed successfully, chip has been implanted successfully, first dose of poison has been administered_

_Project details: The final steps of the process have been completed: the avian now appears to be human, albeit with no past memories, and with scarring from the surgery as well as the chip implanted in the subject’s left forearm. In order to continuously administer regular doses of poison in order to keep the subject from regenerating, some scientists have devised another story, which is that the subject has a chronic illness, and must continuously take medication. As the subject grows older, we trust that he will grow more responsible as well, and continue to take the poison himself, through poison pills. However, there is the question of how to nullify the avian’s natural strength, speed, and sharp senses. At the moment, we hope that the constant poisonings may be enough to stunt those abilities. For any abilities not nullified through poisoning, we will attempt to explain away as a coincidence. Regular checkups must be scheduled to make sure the avian is healthy, and to see progress of the project. As of right now, everything is in place. We will continue to track the subject, without the subject's knowledge, of course. And from now on, the subject shall be known as Project Nullifier, in remembrance to the nullifications we have made in the name of science and in the name of saving a life._

_Current project status: successful_

Memory loss. Scarring on his back. Dead parents. A car crash. A chronic illness. Constant medication. A chip in his arm.

Oblivion. Wings removed. A lone avian child. Fallen off the island’s edge. Regenerative abilities that had to be nullified. Constant poisonings. Chipped and tracked.

Could he...could he really be…?

He squinted closely at the tiny print at the bottom of the page, heart beating so quickly that its pulse made it hard to breathe.

_Other notes: the subject will go by the same name he introduced himself as to a worker here, before Oblivion was administered: Akaashi Keiji._

No.

Hands shaking so badly that he was fumbling with the folder, he set down the sheets of paper and turned to the side. He opened his laptop and plugged in the hard drive.

On the hard drive seemed to be electronic copies of the sheets he had seen in the folder of paper, but there was another folder stored on the drive electronically. Terrified of what he might find, he opened the folder.

Photos. Photos of an avian with black hair, green eyes, and black and grey wings. Most of the later photos showed the avian without wings. The latest photo in the folder seemed to be a camera shot of Bokuto’s containment room, the shot focused on Akaashi kneeling on the platform beside Bokuto.

His abnormally light weight, his injuries and illnesses healing faster than a human normally would. Dreams of flight. (Side effects of Oblivion included brief periods of confusion, very constant dreams during sleep, or short flashbacks.)

He was never told what was actually in his medication, right?

He couldn't remember anything about his life before he was at the compound. He didn't know where he was from, didn't know who his real parents were.

Project Nullifier was extremely difficult to control, and was acting out. And on the night he attempted to help Bokuto escape, he had acted out of the expectations placed on him. The workers had known exactly where he and Bokuto were, because of the chip in his arm. But they couldn't give themselves away. They couldn't reveal that they were tracking him through his chip, which must have been why they only went after Bokuto.

Akaashi could no longer deny the truth staring him straight in the face.

This was what the researcher wanted him to know. This was why she didn’t want to just tell him straight out: he would never have believed that he was an avian unless he saw proof. And here was all the proof and information he needed, served on a silver platter.

He was Project Nullifier. An avian with wings removed, with abilities weakened and held down by poison.

The world around him was spinning as his entire worldview shattered into a blurred mess. Was he shocked? He didn’t know. The last clear remnants of his splintered thoughts were coalescing into one, single, clear thought through the mess in his head.

_Everything I thought I knew is a lie._

* * *

_Bird's-eye view, awake the stars 'cause they're all around you_

_Wide eyes will always brighten the blue_

_Chase your dreams and remember me, sweet bravery_

_'Cause after all, those wings will take you up, so high_

_So bid the forest floor goodbye as you race the wind_

_And take to the sky (you take to the sky)_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And as promised, everything now makes sense. Hopefully.
> 
> It might have been pretty unrealistic for Akaashi to so easily break into one of the compound's most secure areas simply by so easily messing up the power, but I couldn't think of another way to to that in a semi-realistic way. Also, of course, a warning that the information used here may not be scientifically accurate


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a bit of a shorter chapter. The last chapter will take a quite a while, though.

The air burned in his lungs as he ran, weaving through the rows of shelves. He didn’t have much time. The emergency lights had come back on, meaning that his time was up. The workers had restored the power, and it was only a matter of time before he was caught. He needed to get out of the archives before he was seen. It didn’t help that he had the file for Project Nullifier shoved in his bag, so when it was discovered that someone had stolen the info for a top-secret project, he needed to be seen as innocent as possible.

When Akaashi neared the A section of the archives, he hesitated. There could be more information about avians in this lab stored there. Was it worth it?

After a quick survey of the archive entrances, he made a decision and whipped around, running down the A section. _A...avian...A...V...here._

 _Avians, Known Information. Avian Study._ Two files. He quickly took a minute to shove the two files into his bag alongside Project Nullifier, then whipped around and ran.

He had left the door to the archives slightly ajar. It was lucky he did, or he might’ve been trapped in the archives. Internally cursing when he realized that the cameras were back online, he paused to take his paint and paint-smeared paintbrush out of his bag. Even if he did look pretty stupid blacking out the cameras, at least he wasn’t seen.

When he got back to his room in his apartment, he set the bag down beside his desk, and collapsed on the bed.

* * *

Lies, lies, lies. Akaashi smiled thinly and nodded throughout the entire chat with his parents the next morning. Yes, of course he would make an effort to communicate more closely with them. Yes, of course he would forgive them for being so distant with him over all those years. It wasn’t like he was actually an avian, wings removed and poisoned, always being kept in the dark about his true identity. Lies, lies, lies.

When the evening arrived, he managed to sneak the files he had stolen from the archives into Bokuto’s containment room by making up some excuse that he wanted to show Bokuto some pictures of the human world.

“Akaashi? Did you do it?”

“Yeah. I did.”

Now, how was he supposed to tell Bokuto that he was avian? _Hey, it turns out that I’m Project Nullifier, and the whole point was to hide my avian heritage by removing my wings, erasing my memories, and poisoning me repeatedly to make sure I’d never regain my wings._ Yeah, that would never work.

Pulling himself up onto the top platform, he sat down on the floor next to Bokuto, setting his bag on the floor. “I managed to steal the info. But just so you know, I told them that I was bringing you photos of the human world, so make sure you play by that lie.” He didn’t bring the hard drive, as to not raise more suspicion.

“Oh. Okay.”

“It’s...it’s...um.”

“Is it that bad?” Bokuto asked, raising an eyebrow in concern.

“It’s really bad.” Akaashi released a harsh laugh. “I also stole a few other files too, so we can take a look at them together.”

“Oh, okay. Don’t know if I’ll be able to read them, but worth a shot, I guess. But what did Project Nullifier say?”

Akaashi huffed a damaged laugh. “ _I’m_ Project Nullifier,” he spat, forcing out the main burning idea he had learned last night.

“You...what? Isn’t Project Nullifier about avians? Unless…” Yellow eyes widened.

“Yeah. I’m an avian. I was blown off the island’s edge years ago before being found by the humans here, but I don’t remember any of it because my memories were erased. I also never regenerated my wings, because I was being poisoned. There was no chronic illness, no need for a chip to track my health. It was all a lie to keep me monitored, to keep me continuously taking what were poison pills. There was no car crash. It was just a convenient excuse as to why I had no parents and why I couldn’t remember anything.” His voice cracked, words pouring out of him with no control as the severity of the situation began to dawn on him. His wings and his memories were taken away from him, and he had no say in anything.

“Akaashi…”

He didn’t choose it. But they did this to him, regardless. “They did this to me,” Akaashi choked out, his eyes beginning to blur with tears as the reality of his situation crashed down over him. “I didn’t ask for any of this. And I know that they did this to disguise me as a human, to keep me from being killed by the humans that were afraid of avian strength. But still, I didn’t choose this. _I didn’t choose this, but they still did this to me!_ ”

“Akaashi! Hey, come here.” To his credit, while Bokuto still seemed shocked at the news, he didn’t break down or anything. Instead, he opened a wing, offering a place beside him. Akaashi took it without hesitation this time. Enveloped in warmth and soft feathers, an arm around his shoulders, made him feel surprisingly safe, and he buried his face in Bokuto’s wing without speaking.

“Is it stupid of me to be this upset, when I know that they did this to keep me safe?” he finally mumbled once he felt calm enough.

“They cut off your wings and took your memories without your consent, so yeah. But then there’s the question of why they even wanted to kill you. You’re an avian, so you’re much stronger than a human, but you were a kid. That’s just stupid. But they wanted to kill you anyway, and you said that was what pushed the humans to disguise you as one of them. So, you’re still allowed to be upset.”

“Ha.” He shifted a little in Bokuto’s hold to peer tiredly at his face.

“You okay now?”

“Probably.”

“Okay.” He pushed his messy black and white hair away from his face. “Avian. That’s...wow. I’d accuse you of lying if you were anyone else, but I’m sure you’d take this seriously. So...you’re avian. They cut off your wings, erased your memories of the avian world, and then kept you poisoned to keep you from healing. Wow.”

“I’m still in shock, honestly.”

“Ah. Guess I know why you were so light.”

Another lie. He was light because he had the light build of an avian, with hollow bones, not because of the disease. Just how much of his life wasn’t touched by those lies?

“And...now what?” Akaashi mumbled. “I still need to get you out, that’s for sure. But what about me? Where do I go from here? Is it still even safe for me here?”

“Was it ever safe for you here, is the question,” Bokuto said.

“Probably. I mean, the whole point was to keep me safe from the authorities, who demanded I be killed. It seemed to have worked. The poison pills kept me from regenerating my wings, and kept me from healing at an avian’s heal rate. But then again, I still healed pretty fast compared to humans. That cut I got when we first tried to escape healed within two days.”

“Huh. Is that faster than you usually heal?”

Now that he thought about it, it was. “Yeah. I’m healing faster than I used to. Wonder why that is,” he said. “You’d think that with constant poisoning, my immune system would weaken more and more as time passed and poison accumulated.”

Silence fell around them for a few moments, and then Bokuto said, “No. I don’t think that’s the case here.”

“What?”

“You said it yourself, you’re healing faster than you used to, despite constant poisoning. The poison’s not accumulating. I think you’re actually slowly becoming immune to the poison.”

That...that was a thought. He had never thought of it like that.

"Avians are strong like that. We heal fast, no matter the threat." Bokuto loosened his hold on Akaashi so his wing was only lightly draped across Akaashi’s shoulders. “So, you got those files?” he asked, changing the topic.

“Yes, I do. I don’t know if you can read the language, though,” Akaashi replied. He pulled the bag towards him, opening it to pull out the file, which was disguised as one of his notebooks, and handing it to Bokuto.

“You’re right, I can’t read it. You have a different written language than us, but I don’t think the system is that different. It uses letters, they’re just different than ours.”

“You’ll have to take my word for what I’m saying. Again,” Akaashi said wryly.

“Yeah. Guess I’ll have to.”

“I’m not lying to you. I promise. I wouldn’t, not after everything I’ve seen here. Even if I was lying before, I’d stop now, after I found out the truth about myself. Now that I know what it’s like to discover that you’ve been lied to about something important to you, I don’t want to hurt you the same way.” He surprised even himself with the heat in his voice.

“I appreciate the sentiment.”

“Thanks.”

Bokuto sighed. “Wow. Heavy. Now, what about those other files you said you stole?”

“I haven’t looked at them yet.” And he was a bit scared of it, after what he had discovered from Project Nullifier’s file.

“Take a look at them now. You can read to me too, because I don’t know what’s written there.”

Nodding, Akaashi pulled out the file titled, _Avians, Known Information._ He opened it to the first page, and began to read the details out quietly to Bokuto.

The first page was grisly, and it only got worse and worse as he progressed. For once, he was grateful that there were no pictures. There was a hard drive in the file that probably contained pictures, but he didn’t want to look at it. From what he was reading, the tortures and experiments conducted on the captured avians detailed there jumping out at him, this was gruesome enough. What didn’t help was that the first page was dated decades ago, and the last page was a reference to Project Nullifier. This had been going on for decades.

The information that the researches wrote down at the bottom of each page paled in comparison beside what they had done to obtain the information. Bokuto getting his wings chopped off paled in comparison to what was detailed.

_We have discovered that avians have amazing regenerative abilities…_

_Avians have been observed to recover quickly from a variety of poisons, despite the negative side effects…_

_Avians have hollow bones…_

_Avians seem to have much sharper senses than humans, sharp hearing, sharp eyesight, and good night vision..._

_Interestingly, it seems that all avians observed here have the ability to fly silently…_

_All of the avians we’ve encountered over the years appear in the time period around late summer and early autumn…_

When he finished reading, his throat burned with bile. Akaashi closed the file and tossed it to the side, and it flopped to the floor.

“Not all avians can fly silently,” Bokuto finally said hollowly, sounding drained. “Only owl avians. And while all avians have good eyesight, owl avians are the ones with really good night vision.”

“You think all of the avians they caught were owl avians?” Akaashi asked, feeling sick.

“Yeah. They’re all probably from Fukurodani, too.”

“All owl avians live on Fukurodani?”

“Not exclusively. Owl avians live in other islands too and other avians also live on Fukurodani, but most of Fukurodani’s population is owl avians.”

“What makes you so sure that all these avians are from Fukurodani, then?”

“I told you, all the islands drift. They follow paths around the world, and they move in a cycle that repeats once per season. Few islands cross paths. And besides, they said all the avians they caught were found in late summer, early autumn.”

“And?”

“Late summer, early autumn. September, right? That’s late summer, early autumn. What’s the name of the transition period between summer and autumn here?”

“It’s September here, too,” Akaashi said, blinking in slight surprise.

“Hey, another thing we have in common! Okay. Well, September for us on Fukurodani is the storm season. There are more storms there than any other time of year, and the winds are always crazy at that time of year. The barrier winds are also stronger than usual.”

“Which makes it more likely for an avian to be pulled over the edge by the winds,” Akaashi finished, eyes widening.

“Yeah, that’s it! The same thing happened to me, too. I was flying on a Scout mission. We were just outside the barrier winds of Fukurodani, and I got pulled away by wind. I then saw land, then...well...y’know,” Bokuto said, quieting.

Akaashi nodded. “So, Fukurodani passes by this spot every September, and that’s when most avians are blown off the island edge. They’re then found by humans here.”

“Yeah, that basically sums it up. Although, not that many avians are blown off the island edge nowadays. Avians getting swept away by winds used to be pretty common, until we put rules in place. Less are blown away each decade. And like I said, the last avian to get blown off the edge was this kid thirteenish years ago.”

“Me,” Akaashi said.

Bokuto blinked owlishly at him, then sighed softly and looked away, and said, “Yeah. You.”

Silence fell softly around them again before Akaashi reached over and pulled out the final file he had stolen, _Avian Study_. “Well, let’s get this over with,” he said.

The file was thinner than any of the ones that came before it, containing only a few pages. The first page was dated several years before the compound was built.

_Our funders have proposed a plan in response to our current predicament. We have encountered several of these “avians” on our trips to this remote area to study atmospheric conditions here, but we have yet to find efficient ways to detain them and extract information. (What doesn’t help is that all the avians refuse to give up information to humans.)_

_We have plans to set up a permanent establishment in this area, but the government hiring us as well as our funders have proposed another idea: to set up not only a permanent building, but a highly specialized one. One that will not only allow us to study conditions in this remote area, but one specialized to finding out more about these “avians”._

_Construction and living plans are already being constructed. Of course, all of the information here needs to be kept confidential, and the best way is to have all workers live at the building full-time. There is the question of how they and their families will deal with it, but some have proposed that all the workers simply bring their families to live with them at the compound, forming a secluded community._

_Of course, there's also the question of security. But, some people have proposed self-defense weapons and security installments such as radar, as well as specialized weapons useful against avians, such as nets, spears, and tranquilizers._

_Construction is set to begin._

“So it looks like it’s just here that people are equipped with weapons to shoot unsuspecting avians out of the sky,” Bokuto said dully.

“Yeah. Along with tools and equipment dedicated solely to the ‘study’ of avians,” Akaashi added.

It wasn’t safe for him. It wasn’t safe for Bokuto. It was never safe for any of them.

All along, the purpose of this lab was to capture, study, and torture avians. Akaashi had been one of those avians, and hadn’t even known until now.

Akaashi laughed, the noise grating in his throat. “This wasn’t a home for me,” he whispered. “If anything, this just proves it.”

Bokuto watched him, yellow eyes dull with what looked like grief and shock. “You...do you know what you’ll do next?” he asked quietly.

“No. All I know is that I want to get away from here. But I don’t know if I can.”

“Come with me.”

Akaashi blinked up in shock. “What?”

“When I escape, come with me. Fly with me to Fukurodani.”

“What? I...Bokuto-san, I don’t even know if I’ll be able to regenerate my wings after all this.” Fly. Away. With Bokuto to the home of the owl avians. That...was completely new territory Akaashi had never dared to explore.

“Yeah. You don’t know if you’ll be able to regenerate your wings, or if you’ll even fly. But can you really stay here any longer? Do you really think this is the right place for you?” Yellow eyes burned with a vehemence.

“I...no.”

“Then your choice should be simple. You should take the first chance you get outta here. Can’t fly if you never try, right?”

He was right. He was right about all of it.

“You even said yourself that you were healing faster than normal. That's a good thing, because if you were anything else than avian, you might have been killed by poison long ago. There’s a very good chance you’ll get your wings back. Look, you even said that the human got her memories and life experience erased because she helped us, and then she warned you about Project Nullifier. She asked if you cared about the lives of all avians. That was what she must’ve meant. She wanted you to escape, because you’re an avian that didn’t deserve this.”

That researcher...was right. There _were_ more lives at play than Bokuto’s. All this time, Akaashi’s life was controlled because he was a science experiment, an avian to hide.

“Listen, Akaashi. You’re chaining yourself to the ground, to a place you hate, because you’re too afraid of letting go. You’re afraid of flying away, of heading into the unknown. But look. The whole sky’s in front of you.” Bokuo gripped his shoulder, forcing Akaashi to look up. “Who wants to be landlocked when you have the entire sky in front of you?”

The open skies. The chance to fly. A realization.

_Who wants to be landlocked when you have the entire sky in front of you?_

A dream surfaced, one that had been buried under weeks of stress and nightmares and fear for both himself and Bokuto. One of pleasant, soaring flight that he had only experienced once as a passenger while he was awake. A dream that he might have a chance to live fully if he fled, but one he would never be able to live if he stayed on the ground with poison rotting away at his body.

“You’re right,” Akaashi said, breathing out his realization. He was plunging headfirst into the unknown, but he was accepting it fully.

“You’ll-”

“I’ll come with you.”

* * *

_There's a realm above the trees_

_Where the lost are finally found_

_Touch your feathers to the breeze_

_And leave the ground_

* * *

Akaashi flopped onto his bed and sighed. Class was over for the day, and he had the afternoon to spend planning. The week had passed in a flurry of planning, and there was still lots to cover. Of course, the most important thing in the immediate moment was getting the poison out of Akaashi’s blood so he’d have a chance to regenerate fully and then get out of the compound. But then came the question of what to do next and how to survive in the wilderness.

So far, they had decided first on putting as much distance between them and the compound as possible, before following Fukurodani’s theoretical path until they could get as close as possible to directly underneath the floating island (Bokuto had confirmed that the islands drifted much slower than avians were able to fly, so once Akaashi regenerated his wings, it shouldn’t take much trouble to catch up to the island), and then flying as high as possible into the sky to get to Fukurodani.

He dragged himself off the bed and to the bag sitting to the side. Sneaking around the compound at night had allowed him to steal several maps and a compass from a storeroom so they’d be able to navigate once they escaped the compound, which were stashed in his bag. He also had his notebook where he had written what he had learned about avians from Bokuto during his stay, as well as the files stolen from the archives. He had managed to get a hold of the specialized screwdrivers that researcher had mentioned, from an abandoned utility closet. There were a few extra bags sitting to the side, so they’d be able to carry extra supplies with them. Bokuto had requested some knives if possible, and whatever food, water, and medical supplies they could carry.

And there was the question of timing, too. They had tentatively planned the escape for a week later, when lab maintenance was scheduled and all the scientists would be busy in the labs. That still gave them a little time to work.

Knocking on his door sounded, and Akaashi shoved the bags to the side to hide them behind the bed. “Yes?” he called.

Mother entered the room, “Akaashi, there’s news you should hear about. It concerns the avian you’ve been working with for about the past month.”

This couldn’t be good. “What is it?”

“Well, as you know, we’ve been reporting everything that goes on in this lab to our superiors.” 

_Not everything,_ Akaashi’s thoughts cruelly whispered, the reports of Project Nullifier running through his head. “And?” he asked.

“They’ve been hearing about all this progress we’re making, and they’d like to see everything for themselves. But this lab is so remote, getting here and back is difficult. So, they’ve decided on another choice. We’ll be moving the avian from this compound to another secure location permanently.”

Akaashi’s neutral expression froze on his face as his brain began to process what was just said. “Pardon?”

“The avian will be permanently relocated to another research compound. We plan on moving it tomorrow. Of course, that means you’ll have to say goodbye. You live here, and it’ll be too much of a hassle to move you with the avian.”

Tomorrow. He had to get Bokuto out of the compound tonight, or it’d be too late for both of them. “Oh. Okay,” Akaashi said through the plan frantically rearranging itself in his head. “Can I visit him tomorrow, too?”

“No, unfortunately. You’ll be able to talk to him for the rest of the afternoon, but then that’ll be it.”

“Oh. Okay.” Akaashi nodded numbly. Of course, of course such a thing would happen during such a crucial phase of planning. “I’ll go speak with him now, then.”

“Alright.”

He nodded briskly, before heading out of the apartment. His mind was numb the entire walk to the containment room, running madly over the planning they still had left to do and how he would fit the outline of the plan into the idea he had.

“Bokuto-san!” he called, hauling the door of the containment room and running in.

“Akaashi? What is it? Why the panic?”

Akaashi scaled the ladder easily, nimbly darting from one rung to the next before quickly hauling himself on top of the top platform. “I have bad news. The people here are planning to relocate you to another location far away from here tomorrow, but I won’t be coming with you.”

His eyes widened. “That means…”

“Yeah. No more time for planning. We’ve gotta get out tonight, or it’ll be too late for me to help you.”

“Damn. This is bad.”

“It is. Now, they gave me the afternoon here, so we have to finish the rest of our plan now. Is there anything you’re thinking about now?”

Bokuto blinked a few times, before shifting the focus of the discussion. “Well, it all involves getting away from the human building away first. Like I said, bring whatever you have of use. Knives will be particularly useful, because we might need to hunt or defend ourselves.”

“I think I have some knives we could use,” Akaashi said, thinking of the kitchen knives stored in the apartment cupboard. “We might have to sharpen them, though.”

“Okay. We’ll also need anything that can be used to start fires. It might get cold.”

“Uh. No, I don’t think we have anything usable for that.” Matches weren’t allowed in the compound. “But besides that, I can steal food and water, although it’s doubtful how much we’ll be able to carry.”

“Alright. Those are the bare essentials, anyway. You know what you need to do on your end?”

He nodded. Get to the generators, take out the power like he did last time, and then get back to free Bokuto and pick up their supplies, and then get to the outer hallways and get out through the windows. And of course, there was something he knew he would eventually have to do but felt sick at the thought.

They talked, and kept talking. In a way, Akaashi was grateful. Talking was a form of action, and it kept his mind off the sickening apprehension rising in his throat.

* * *

He forced himself to eat as much as he could at dinner, even though nervousness made him feel sick. After all, who knew how much food they’d have after breaking out of the compound? After dinner, Akaashi’s parents headed out to work, wishing him goodnight.

He nodded in response, knowing that if everything went according to plan, this would be the last time he would ever see them. Was he supposed to feel sad, or perhaps relieved? He didn’t know.

As far as he could tell, he didn’t feel anything. It was as if an emotional barrier had been thrown up between them after Akaashi had learned about Project Nullifier, cutting off any feeling he might’ve had towards them.

The rest of the evening was spent pacing around the apartment, walking into the kitchen and then doubling back to his bedroom to peer inside his bags. They were filled with anything he could carry, some spare clothing, food, bottled water (inside reusable containers), as well as the compass and maps Bokuto had requested.

An idea came to mind when Akaashi opened the cupboard doors to look for knives. He set a pot of water on the stove, and set it to boil, so he could sterilize the knives. Once they were clean, they were wrapped in cloth and shoved inside pockets of the bags.

When lights out came, he got up. The bags were stored by the apartment’s front door by then, and the plan was for them to get back here and pick them up before running to the outer hallways. Feeling like he was choking on air because his heart was beating so fast, he moved on unsteady legs to the door.

One of the bags contained nothing but the supplies Akaashi had previously used to short out the generators. He slung that one over his back, pulled the hood of his sweater down as low as he could over his face, stepped out the apartment door, and ran. 

The route to the generators was something he was becoming weirdly familiar with. He darted through empty hallways, sticking as close to the shadows as he could. No doubt that there would be more surveillance than usual, people watching closely through the cameras in the control room, but there was no way around that. The moment he worked to black out the cameras, an alarm would be triggered and then they’d be on a countdown to get out of the compound as soon as possible. He gritted his teeth.

The process went by quickly. The cameras blacked out, the electricity going to be powered down as soon as possible. And their captors would soon be after them.

Akaashi ran through the halls, taking a sharp turn down an empty hallway that he knew led to nothing but classrooms that were currently empty. Dread was pooling sickly in his stomach. This was what he knew he had to do no matter what, but the sheer nature of it made him feel nauseous with pain.

In a side pocket of the bag he was carrying was the smallest kitchen knife, sterilized and wrapped in clean cloth. He pulled it out of the bag and gripped it firmly around the handle as he slid the cloth off.

He had only ever used such a tool for domestic tasks. The memory of the knife was of chores and cooking. But now, it was about to be tainted with memories of pain. (But then again, what wasn’t tainted when he learned that he was avian?)

Akaashi shoved the cloth in his mouth, wedging it between his teeth to muffle any screams that he would make.

He then extended his left arm, holding it up to the window he was standing next to, and turned it up to expose the soft skin of the underside of his arm. He wanted to squeeze his eyes shut, to block out the fear of what was soon to come, but he knew he had to be careful with what he was going to do next.

Fighting to keep his hand steady through the fear thundering through his veins, he lowered the sharp edge of the knife to the space where the metal and plastic of his chip met his skin.

Pain shot through his arm as he dragged the knife down and across, making an incision in his skin, separating the chip from his skin. Blood began to pool in his elbow. Tears of pain gathered in his eyes without his permission, and he bit down on the cloth in his mouth until his jaw hurt, keeping cries of pain locked in his throat.

He adjusted the knife angle, arms trembling with the exertion of holding still, and did the same thing again. And again. And again.

His arm was wracked with sharp, stinging pain, and blood was running in rivulets down his arm. Akaashi set the knife down on the floor, and then reached over to the sensitive area of his arm, which was shot through with burning agony.

His nails pinched the edge of the chip, and he pulled it free of his arm.

Barely able to see through vision blurred heavily with tears, he heard more than saw the chip drop to the floor, the light clatter of plastic and metal against tile. He pressed himself to the wall, crushing his shoulder against the hard surface in order to gain some semblance of clarity through the agony clouding his mind.

In the place where the chip used to be was now an area of flesh coloured red. Feeling sick, Akaashi pulled the cloth out of his mouth, saliva sticking to it, and wrapped it around his injured arm, wincing at the pain that sprang from the sudden pressure when he awkwardly tied it one-handedly to make a makeshift bandage.

He wanted to sink to his knees, to rest, but he knew that there was no time. Forcing himself to straighten, he turned to prepare to run, wiping his eyes.

Before he moved, he turned back one last time to see the small chip lying on the floor beside a bloodied knife, droplets of blood dotting the floor around them.

He was free now.

But damn, if the process didn’t hurt.

* * *

He fought the urge to pace. Akaashi had talked to him earlier that day about the importance of not giving anything away, and he himself knew how important it was that no one knew that something was being planned tonight. But still, knowing that by tonight, he’d be free, and accompanied by a friend who was an avian trapped on the ground, made him feel restless.

When the low yellow lights in the room he was in flickered and went out, Bokuto sat up straight. Akaashi told him about this stage of the plan. Once all the lights were out, there was a good chance that no one would be able to see anything they were doing. But he also told Bokuto that once the lights were down, that was when they knew that the scientists would know that they were up to something. Which meant that they needed to move fast.

Nervous jitters running through this frame, Bokuto pulled the Scout jacket over his uniform shirt (the only belongings he had here) and glided down to the front door.

Akaashi was quick, and it wasn’t long before the door opened and Akaashi’s face came into view through the crack in the door. “You’re ready. Good,” he said, pulling the door open fully.

Through the thin moonlight filtering in through the skylight, Bokuto noticed with alarm the bloodied cloth that was tied messily around Akaashi’s arm. “You hurt your arm?”

He winced. “Yeah. Uh, I cut the chip out of my arm. So they won’t be able to track us after we fly away.”

The mental image of Akaashi kneeling on the floor, face twisted up in pain as he clawed the chip out of his arm, skin tearing and red blood flowing to the floor, flashed through his mind. The image made him feel both saddened and nauseous, and he violently shoved the image away to focus what was in front of him.

“You didn’t tell me about this,” Bokuto said instead.

“What difference would it make? I’d have to do it either way,” Akaashi said as he held the door open for Bokuto. “And besides, you said avians heal fast. I’ll trust your word and believe that it’ll heal after I regenerate my wings.”

He nodded in response, even though he still hated the thought.

The trip through the hallways was quicker this time. Akaashi seemed much more sure of where they were going than the last time they tried such a thing, which was a relief.

“Here. My apartment. Where I live - or, used to live, soon,” Akaashi whispered when they stopped in front of a door.

It was strange, seeing a place that was designated for living, and certainly looked lived in, and trying to picture Akaashi fitting in. Akaashi didn’t spare the area a second glance, however, as he crouched down next to the front door and began to sort through the pile of bags near the door.

Soon, both of them were carrying both a larger backpack and a couple smaller bags. Flying with these would be quite heavy, but they’d just have to deal with it. And it wasn’t like Bokuto had flown without carrying weight on his back, either. The real worry was how Akaashi would fare.

“Don’t worry about me. I can handle it. They mentioned that avians were stronger than humans, anyway,” Akaashi said as if reading his mind.

“Oh. Okay.” Bokuto moved to leave the living area, ready to leave this cage and fly free, but Akaashi paused.

“Wait,” he said quietly. He then pulled a smaller bag in front of him, and then pulled out three small disks made of strange material. Bokuto squinted, and could make out words written on them. Akaashi tossed them onto the table in the middle of the room, and then turned and said, “Let’s go.”

“What was that about?”

“Those were hard drives I found when I was stealing in the archives,” Akaashi said. “Hard drives are disks that can store lots of information, but it’s not accessible without a computer. I don’t think we have computers where we’re going, so no point in bringing them. I’m not bringing any computers with me either, or anything that requires electricity, so better just to leave all of that behind.”

Well, he was right. They didn’t have computers, or electricity on the floating isles, even though they seemed common on the ground. “What information was stored on those? Did you see?”

“Yeah. It was information on Project Nullifier and the avian research. It was in the files I stole. I left it there so they can see what I found out. So that they could see that I learned about what they tried so hard to keep hidden from me. One last act of rebellion, for all the years that I wasn’t able to fight back,” he said quietly.

The heaviness in his tone made Bokuto look down. “You say ‘they’, as if you’re not part of them anymore. I find that kinda strange, because you made the switch so quickly,” he said.

“Yeah. I know. But I’m not part of them. Maybe I was, at some point, but not anymore.”

Silence fell around them, and Akaashi led the way through the long corridors without speaking.

“Is that stupid of me, Bokuto-san?” Akaashi finally asked. “Is it stupid of me to be so spiteful, even though I know that all humans aren’t like that? Even though I know that the whole purpose of Project Nullifier was to keep me safe from the humans that did want me dead?”

“Hey, hey. Like I said, it’s not stupid. You can feel what you want. Your feelings are valid,” Bokuto said, as gently as he could manage. “Even I know that all humans aren’t terrible. I’ve grown up my entire life hearing horror stories and then later living those horror stories myself.”

He nodded, but didn’t reply.

“I’m pretty sure that it’s not all humans who are like that. There was you.”

“I’m avian.”

“But you’re forgetting that you considered yourself human until only a week ago. All this time you tried to help me, thinking you were human. I thought you were human, too. And don’t forget that other human, the one that helped us and then got her memory erased for us.” Bokuto paused in his talking to consider Akaashi, in the dark hallway. “I don’t think cruelty is inherent. I think it’s actions that show cruelty.”

Akaashi didn’t say anything, and then whispered, “Thank you, Bokuto-san.”

“No problem. And stop with the ‘san’ already, I thought we were past formality now.”

“Alright. I’ll consider it, Bokuto-san.”

They ran for a little more, before Akaashi slowed to a stop in the window-littered hallway similar to the one when they tried to escape previously. Rummaging in a bag for a little, Akaashi then pulled out a thin metal rod, a tool of some sort.

“Screwdriver,” he said, taking a second one out and handing it to Bokuto. “One of the specialized ones the researcher told us we could use to get out of here.”

“Wait,” Bokuto said, setting the screwdriver on the floor. “Your bandage. It’s slipping.”

Akaashi let Bokuto untie the cloth wrapped around his arm and then retie it around the wound, more securely this time. He caught a flash of the wound, a sickening skinless patch of flesh, and he quickly covered back up.

“Thanks.” Akaashi ducked his head to the side, before sighing out quietly and nodding towards the window.

The work was awkward and long, but at least it wasn’t as loud as the last attempt. With Akaashi’s mumbled instruction, they were able to get most of the screws out of the thing holding the glass in place. (Window frame. Akaashi called it a window frame.)

The last screw fell to the ground with a metallic clatter, and both of them jumped back when the entire window crashed to the ground, still in one piece despite the impact.

“What did they use to make glass that strong?” Bokuto asked.

“No idea.” Akaashi jerked his head in the direction of the window. “No time to question, though. We need to get out of here now.”

Bokuto clambered onto the small ledge, pulling himself through the hole in the wall they had created. Akaashi followed, and they only had landed outside of the building when a faint voice called in the distance.

“They’ve already caught up.” Akaashi cursed quietly.

“We need to move.”

“Stay low. We need to sneak past, because neither of us are in much of a state to fight right now.”

Following Akaashi’s lead, they moved as quickly as they could while still remaining as quiet as possible. The undergrowth was prickly and uncomfortable, but at least it provided a little cover. The night was fairly dark, which might just be enough to conceal them from human sight.

Then, beams of light cut through the night, and Bokuto nearly jumped out of his skin when something rocketed through the air and landed with a noise like a loud thunderclap.

“What was that?”

“Don’t know.” Fear was clearly visible in Akaashi’s eyes when he turned back to look at him, and that wasn’t reassuring in the slightest.

Harsh light suddenly shone in his vision, and shouts sounded.

“Run!” he yelled, immediately recognizing that they had been found and not even bothering with stealth anymore. Akaashi, seeming to recognize his train of thought, whipped around and ran.

Another loud clap sounded, and Bokuto threw himself out of the way to nearly dodge what looked like a thick metal spear lodge itself firmly in a nearby tree trunk. Some new weapon, then?

“Bokuto!” Akaashi screamed, panic drenching his tone.

He quickly looked up to see a net whipping through the air, and managed to leap out of the way. Every instinct was screaming for him to spread his wings and take to the air, but fear for Akaashi kept him rooted to the ground.

“This way!”

Not even pausing to question, he followed the direction of Akaashi’s voice, running and ducking awkwardly through thin undergrowth. The beams of lights seemed to drift further and further away, but he was mostly focused on Akaashi’s form ahead of him twisting and ducking as he wove through the trees and brush.

Another loud clap sounded.

Pain shot through his wing, and he fell to the ground, scream silenced by sheer pain. Feeling sick, Bokuto turned his head to see one of the metal spears impaling his wing, practically pinning it to the ground. It went in through the back of his wing and stuck out on the underside, blood running down the spear in rivulets.

“Bokuto!” Akaashi’s voice sounded in a panic-filled hiss. Hands wrapped around his shoulders and the pain in his wing flared as Akaashi dragged them into thicker undergrowth.

Pain blacked out all else, but he managed to whisper, “Get it out.”

“I’m sorry. I’ll try.”

He wasn’t really aware of what Akaashi was doing, but soon, agony ripped through his wing and he crashed to the ground, nausea making him weak. He turned to see Akaashi holding the bloodstained spear, now free from his wing, gripping it so tightly that his knuckles were turning white. A hole was punched straight through his wing, bleeding freely onto the ground now that there was nothing stopping up the wound.

“Sorry. I’m so sorry.”

“It should only take a few minutes to regenerate,” Bokuto choked out. “Just that long.”

“We don’t have that long,” Akaashi replied as he tossed the spear away, looking stricken. As if to prove his point, voices sounded again.

“Akaashi-”

“I’m sorry, Bokuto. Just hang on.”

“Akaashi!”

“I’ll lead them away. The moment it’s healed and attention is off you, come after me. I’m not letting them take us captive again.”

“Akaashi.”

But then he was gone, ducking out from under the thin cover of the undergrowth they were hiding in, and vanishing into the darkness.

* * *

The air burned in his lungs as he ran, crashing blindly through thickets of thorny branches, ducking and twisting wildly to avoid the branches, trying to keep them out of his face. Leaving Bokuto behind was the last thing he ever wanted to do, but he had no choice.

“Come on! This way!” Akaashi called, voice cracking. Better to pretend Bokuto was still with him, so he could lead their pursuers after him. _Please, let him be okay._

Judging by the noise behind him, he had largely been successful. It sounded like there were still quite a few people following him.

Bokuto. Bleeding out, his wing torn through by injury. The memory of exposed, torn flesh, turned his stomach and he steered his thoughts away to concentrate on running.

Lead them away. Keep Bokuto safe. He made sure to weave in unnecessary patterns through the thickets, trying to lead their pursuers in a route that would take up time but still let him keep his distance from them.

He was so caught up in that thought process and in what he was supposed to do that he forgot to consider the direction he was running in. By the time he realized that his surroundings looked awfully familiar, it was too late.

Akaashi skidded to a halt only a few meters away from the edge of the cliff. There was a small distance of solid ground before it dropped away to the cliffside. His pursuers were directly behind them, and they must know by now that they had him cornered against the cliffside.

Their pursuers moved towards him, and Akaashi turned his head away. He didn’t want to see the faces of the humans that played a part in Bokuto’s pain, that played a part in his own hidden past.

“Akaashi?”

“Akaashi!”

No, no. This was why he wanted to schedule the escape during lab maintenance. All of the scientists would then be busy, and none of this would happen. He turned his head away so his parents - captors - wouldn’t see his face.

He failed. Again. He’d be taken captive, probably to be tortured and experimented on the same way Bokuto and the ones that came before him had.

Being locked back up in a cage, with captors that didn’t care for the lives of living creatures, was the least desirable outcome out of all the possible results they had. He didn’t want to go back. And he didn’t want to be a liability to Bokuto, who he knew would try to go after him if he knew that Akaashi had been caught again.

But it was either go back to the cage, or forward into danger and probably death. Mother and Father were speaking, yelling, but he turned away.

The moment his decision formed in his head, he moved so he didn’t have a chance to second-guess himself.

Akaashi ran the short distance and leaped.

He flung himself forwards, leaping off solid ground and off the cliffside. The wind tore at his clothes as he fell.

_I’m so sorry, Bokuto._

His death was rushing up to meet him. But strangely, he didn’t feel afraid of falling anymore. Even if he failed, at least he died fighting.

His back burned, and that was the only warning he had.

The sound of ripping cloth filled the air, and then he was aware of two other _things_ protruding from his back, aware of the air bunching underneath them and pushing him up almost painfully against the pull of gravity.

Then, instead of falling, he was flying. His fall slowed, and he found himself gliding on wings.

Weak wings unaccustomed to flying, with thin, matted feathers, but wings nonetheless.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, yes. Here is the very long conclusion to this fic.
> 
> As always, a warning that this is full of implausible things and scientific implausibilities

He hauled himself up, his wing still aching, albeit less than before. How long had it been?

Well, the hole that had been punched through his wing had completely healed, so Bokuto could assume at least a few minutes.

At the moment, his thoughts were directed entirely towards Akaashi. Worry pulsed through him. While he did trust Akaashi to look after himself, there was no telling what trouble he might run into.

Through the suddenly quiet night, he could detect sounds of a commotion in one direction. Without hesitating, he turned and ran, heading for the source of the noise. If Akaashi wanted to lead their pursuers away, he’d surely try and kick up a racket as a lure.

The thin thickets began to open up, and he saw what looked like a cluster of humans gathered at the cliff’s edge. He didn’t give himself time to think.

Putting on a burst of speed, he leaped into the air and his wings shot out. All it took was a few powerful downstrokes to soar over the humans and dive past them, down the cliff.

When he saw what was below him, he slammed his wings out to break his dive.

_Well, what do you know? This is a pretty convenient time for you to regain your wings, ‘Kaashi._

Akaashi looked up, no doubt having seen Bokuto’s shadow descend over him. Green eyes were stretched wide in disbelief and maybe a little crazed joy, and large black and grey wings wildly churned the surrounding air.

“Don’t break concentration!” Bokuto called. “Spread your wings out, so you have more surface area to gather air under. Stop flailing around, because that won’t help much in the air. You want steady strokes to stay balanced.”

Following his instruction, Akaashi’s flight leveled out somewhat, but he was still shaky in the air. He didn’t have the same balance or stability most avians would have in their flight at this age, but then again, he didn’t have possession of his wings as long as they did.

“That’s great. Now beat your wings. Up and down. Your downstroke should be the most powerful movement in your flight here, because we’re trying to go up,” Bokuto then said.

“I can’t-this is difficult. I’m not used to having two extra limbs, let alone trying to control them in an efficient manner to produce results,” Akaashi said, voice strained.

“Yeah. It might be. You’ll get used to it, don’t worry. Steady your wingbeats. It’s nice to get a bit of rhythm into your flight. It helps orient you.”

Bokuto let himself drop a little lower, so he was drifting next to Akaashi as he attempted to gain altitude.

“Hey, that’s it,” he said as Akaashi’s wingbeats began to even out slightly. “Now, put more power behind it. Think of it as you moving up, or moving forwards, with the air pushing you forward. Your wings power the air moving you.”

Akaashi nodded in response, mouth twisted. But soon enough, they were steadily moving up and forwards. After weeks of being locked in a large room without much space for heavy flight exercises, Bokuto’s wings had weakened, but he was still strong enough to fly in this slow pattern without tiring much. Akaashi, however, would be a different story. This was his first time using his wings in literal years, and that was after he had poison continuously running in his blood for years, slowing his healing process and possibly stunting his natural avian strength.

The sound of something whipping through the air reached his ears, and Bokuto threw himself to the side to push Akaashi out of the way of a net. “Careful!” he yelled, quickly letting go of Akaashi so he could stabilize himself in midair. He had learned from his years as a Scout apprentice that it was always best to let a fellow flier steady themselves when in midair because holding on to an avian with large, beating wings wasn’t the best course of action.

The best thing for them to do at the moment would be to get away from the humans here, and then find somewhere to spend the night. In the morning, he might be able to get a better look at Akaashi’s wings and flight patterns. It also wasn’t a good idea to completely exhaust Akaashi on the first night of what would be a long journey northward after Fukurodani.

“That’s it! That’s it!” Bokuto called as Akaashi seemed to find a rhythm. They were rising faster now, the choppy water far below them falling further and further away with every wingbeat. No other nets or spears came flying down from above them, so that was good.

Akaashi made a wild noise, something caught between a shout and a mad laugh, and Bokuto couldn’t help but grin at the uncontrolled mix of exuberation and shock on his face. The pair of them rose quickly now, until they were flying up past the edge of the cliff and high up into the air. He spared a glance down, at the humans gathered near the cliffside peering up at them.

Stilling, Akaashi spread his wings, beating them gently to hover awkwardly in midair to peer back at them. Immediately understanding that Akaashi might have unsettled business that he might want to finish here, Bokuto stilled and hovered just above him, keeping an eye out.

No one spoke, and then Akaashi said flatly, “You were too late, this time. I found out everything. This whole time, this lab was never to study atmospheric pressures. It was to capture and study avians.”

Awkward silence.

“I was one of those avians. And I know that now,” he continued.

“You have to understand. This was never out of malice,” a human said.

“And I know that. But this isn’t the right place for me. It never has been. I need to find somewhere where I don’t have to live like this. Maybe I was once happy here, but now that I know I can have a better life somewhere else, I can’t stay here,” he replied.

“But you can. We can hide this.”

Akaashi shook his head. “I might come back one day,” he said. “But not now. Not while there’s all this hostility between humans and avians. Not while you look upon avians as only something to be studied. Yes, it’s true, you saved me. But you wanted to poison me and study me, and you all know that there are other humans who would rather see avians dead than form alliances with them.”

When no one answered, Akaashi pressed his lips into a thin line and said, “Maybe I’ll see you again someday. Maybe I’ll come back, try to forge peaceful relationships between humans and avians. But as of right now, I want to see what other opportunities that can be offered to me. Goodbye, everyone. Send my love to my classmates. Goodbye, Mother, Father. If you ever were parents to me, if you ever really saw me as a son, that is.”

He then whipped around, wings beating wildly to steady himself, nodding to Bokuto. Recognizing that this was a sign for them to leave, he nodded in response and pushed down with a powerful downstroke, pushing him up and away. He had nothing to say to the humans that tortured and caged him, so he simply looked away and flew, Akaashi following behind him.

The moonlight was pale and faint, and the air was much cooler than before he had been caught by humans. But the fact that they were here and feeling it themselves was all he needed.

* * *

Akaashi had lost all track of time. The research lab they had fled from was somewhere far behind them, but he only had his sights set forward at the moment. He was caught in a suspension of awe and exhaustion. The sensation of flight was something amazing and fantastical and exhilarating, air whipping past his face at high speeds, but it was also extremely tiring. His wings began to burn after a while, but Bokuto still seemed like he could fly for longer.

“You alright, Akaashi?” he eventually asked.

“I’m okay.”

“No, you’re not. We’ll find some place to rest soon. It won’t do any good for you to pull a muscle or something.”

And true to his word, they soon lighted down on a small grove of trees, near the edge of a cliff. Akaashi folded his aching wings behind him as comfortably as he could, trying to mimic Bokuto. They then walked for a little, Bokuto leading them to a small patch of moss underneath a tree, somewhat sheltered from the winds by a thin bush.

“Here. This doesn’t look like a bad spot,” he said, pulling his yellow, white, and black jacket around him. “No blankets. It’ll be pretty chilly tonight.”

“Yeah,” Akaashi said. Already, the heat he had generated from the flight was beginning to drain away, leaving him chilly and feeling drenched in sweat. It would be a rough night. 

Bokuto held the opening in the branches open for Akaashi. He crawled into the small space, setting down as comfortably as he could on the moss, wincing slightly when he knocked his injured arm against the tree trunk. The pain had faded to dull throb, and the dried blood made the injured area feel sticky and messy. His feathers caught onto the thin branches of the bush as he moved, and he pulled them in tighter against his back.

The branches closed back over them as Bokuto slid under the cover of the branches, settling next to Akaashi and folding his wings tightly behind him.

“Having these wings is awkward. It makes moving and fitting into small spaces hard. And it doesn’t help that I have no idea what to do with them or where to put them. They’re kinda just there,” Akaashi commented, shoving his bag next to the tree trunk.

“You’ll get used to it,” Bokuto replied.

They then fell silent, with nothing filling the quiet night except for the wind and the occasional rustling as one of them shifted. A chill began to descend around him, now that he was no longer moving.

Akaashi tried closing his eyes, but it felt strange. He felt too wired to sleep, the last memory of the research compound replaying over and over in his head. The flat, spiteful words he spat at the humans watching him burned his mouth, even though that moment had long passed. He just lay as still as he could, facing away from Bokuto, quietly observing what little of their surroundings he could see through vision obstructed with branches. It was uncomfortably cold now, and he curled tighter around himself.

“Can’t sleep?” Bokuto whispered, voice harsh with tiredness.

“No. It’s cold.”

The sound of movement reached his ears, and Akaashi jumped when a warm weight was flung over him. He caught sight of black and white feathers, and relaxed when he saw it was only Bokuto’s wing.

“Stop overthinking. Just go to sleep.”

“How can I not overthink at the moment? I’m worried I might’ve done something to upset the researchers, and how it was unfair of me to be so harsh just before we left…”

“See, overthinking. I know you’re worried, but that’s not gonna do much good out here. What’s in the past is in the past. You can’t change that. You can only keep an eye out for what happens in the future, and you can’t do that without enough rest. So just go to sleep.”

“Bokuto-”

“Go to sleep. And if you’re still worried with what you said and how you acted out, I told you that your feelings are valid. It’s reasonable for you to be upset with those humans after what they did to you. And your outburst could’ve been much worse.”

“Much worse isn’t doing much to reassure me at the moment.” _And my last goodbye to the humans that actually cared for me wasn’t exactly very friendly._

“But that’s the only thing I’ve got to say. So just sleep.”

Half-buried under an avian wing, it felt warmer than before. Akaashi had slept easily enough when he was blanketed underneath Bokuto’s wing, and it seemed that this time was no exception.

* * *

“Your wings look pretty nice, especially given that you went what, thirteen years without them?” Bokuto asked from behind him. Akaashi tried not to fidget at the unfamiliar sensation of someone touching his wings, combing through the feathers.

“Really?”

“Yeah. Your feathers look pretty thin and your wings don’t look that strong, but that’s to be expected, I guess. But you’ll grow stronger. Here, I’ll teach you how to groom them. You’ve got pretty feathers, Akaashi.”

It was morning, and while last night’s sleep didn’t feel groundbreakingly refreshing, it was a nice enough rest. Bokuto had woken Akaashi up, and the first thing they did was scout out a source of water. The task of finding water wasn’t difficult, given that they could both fly.

What had been difficult was actually flying. Maybe Bokuto had been correct last night. If Akaashi had flown more, he might not have been able to fly today. His wings ached and it felt like his bones had been replaced with lead, exhaustion left over from last night weighing them down. There were some things that even avian healing couldn’t fix, it seemed. His messy takeoff from their sleeping spot had been one of the most difficult things he’d had to do, and that included messing around with the research compound’s electricity (which now felt years away) and throwing himself off the cliff near the compound to get away from their captors.

The morning routine had come with painfully cleaning the raw wound on Akaashi’s forearm where he had cut his tracking chip out with water that was hopefully clean (they had no way to filter or boil it, so hopefully avian healing would help cure any infection) and eating a carefully rationed breakfast. Bokuto then had insisted on checking over Akaashi’s wings, and now here they were.

Grooming avian wings thoroughly wasn’t easy, as Akaashi himself knew when he cleaned blood out of Bokuto’s wings back at the research compound. Grooming his own wings was another story completely. He had to bend his wings and his back and arms in awkward ways in order to reach certain places on his wings, and combing through the feathers for dirt and grime tired out his fingers.

“You’ll get used to it,” was Bokuto’s only reply when Akaashi pointed it out, and he got the feeling that he would be hearing that particular phrase quite often.

When he was finished cleaning through his feathers, Bokuto showed him how to cut slashes in the backs of shirts to make room for his wings, and had him change out of the shirt that had been ripped by his wings punching out of the back last night. Realizing that none of the shirts they had brought had those slits, Akaashi set to work going through all their spare clothing and cutting spaces for wings in them.

By the time he was finished, the sun was high in the sky and Bokuto had the compass out, mapping out directions.

“Okay. Fukurodani would be heading north at this time of year. To chase it, we need to fly north too for a while, and then fly up into the clouds to see where we are and where we should head from there,” Bokuto said once Akaashi joined him.

“Fly...into the clouds?” as all that Akaashi could manage. He knew that avians lived high up in the sky on floating islands, but thinking of actually flying up there was something else entirely. He could barely manage the short flight to this little grove.

“Well, I gotta teach you how to fly first, obviously,” Bokuto said. “Even though it seems you’ve kinda got it figured out, there’s a lot more.”

“Alright. We can start now,” Akaashi offered, and Bokuto grinned at him in response.

Two hours later, Akaashi was regretting having so quickly accepted the offer. His wings were now hurting even more than before from the flight, but Bokuto was still bounding around him. And the sensation of being suspended in midair with nothing but his own two wings keeping him aloft was something he knew would take some getting used to. Completely different from the dreams, the reality of flying on unsteady wings felt precarious, as if he could drop at any time and fall to the earth rushing past under him.

“Stretch your wings all the way up! Straighten them! That’s your upstroke,” Bokuto called, repeating what he had basically been saying for the past hour. “Then push down with them to form your downstroke!”

Trying to follow directions, Akaashi pulled his wings up and beat down with them, but it felt like trying to fly with metal weights strapped to numb wings. It was frustrating, how easily he was drained by the flight, especially when Bokuto seemed barely affected. And what didn’t help was the noise he was making with his flight - not quite the sound of a wingbeat, but a sound as if wind was whistling roughly through soft feathers. He could barely handle the basics of flight, and it seemed like silent flight was its own category with its own technique.

When Akaashi asked Bokuto about it, he only said, “Well, you can only fly without noise if you even out your wingbeats and relax. Your flight needs to be steady but still strong, moving but not moving too much. Like I said, get some rhythm into your wingbeats to help with the feeling of flight. The air needs to flow smoothly over your feathers at the same time you’re flying in a steady pattern. The main reason you’re making so much noise is because you’re beating your wings too violently. You’re just thinking about not falling. Don’t worry, I can still tell that you’re an owl avian,” he added. “The noise you’re making is just like the sound younger owl avians make when they’re just starting out and don’t know how to move quietly. Like the wingbeats want to be silenced, but you’re moving too much for them to do that.”

The day passed in a flurry of cold wind, moving air, unsteady wings, and rests peppered throughout the flight.

“How exactly do we pinpoint Fukurodani’s location after flying up into the clouds?” Akaashi managed to ask through gasps of air, one rest.

“Fly up into the clouds, and then look for a giant piece of floating land,” Bokuto replied. When Akaashi glared dully at him, he snickered and said, “Well, there’s not much else to it. We don’t get to see the ground from up on the island because the clouds usually block out all view of the ground, so I won’t be able to match any patterns on the ground with what we’d be seeing on Fukurodani at certain points of year. There are a couple landmarks in the sky, though.”

“Landmarks in the sky?” he asked, curiosity immediately piqued.

“There are other pieces of land in the sky other than the avian islands. Most of them hover in one place without moving, and the avians living on the island take notes of them as they pass the island and as the year passes. Any piece of land that looks different from any old chunk of rock is used as a landmark. Like a small island with a tree on it, a strangely shaped rock, that sort of thing. Along with the passing of seasons, that’s a way for us to track time.”

Akaashi nodded. He wasn’t really sure how seasons worked on a floating island, but there was probably some weather or temperature system up there that humans didn’t know of. “If those big avian-inhabited islands drift, why don’t the smaller rocks and islands in the sky drift too?” he asked.

“No idea. We don’t know what causes the islands to drift and what holds other pieces of land in place, but there are theories involving the barrier winds and stuff.”

“Do all avian islands have the barrier winds? Are there other big islands that also have the barrier winds blowing around them, or just avian islands?”

“All avian islands have barrier winds. As for the other islands with no avians living on them, we haven’t discovered any ones with barrier winds, but we also haven’t discovered any islands as big as the currently inhabited ones.”

He nodded again.

Their rest was soon over, and they were taking to the air again. Bokuto was the one focused mostly on navigation, as Akaashi was still struggling to get his flight skills to an acceptable level. 

The day eventually passed, and Bokuto insisted that they stop for the day that late afternoon. “I don’t want you tiring yourself out or getting a cramp,” he said when Akaashi asked if it was too early to be stopping. “I’m even tired by the flight, so I can’t imagine how much worse it is for you. And besides, we need to keep flying tomorrow, and I assure you that tomorrow will be worse than today because you’re tired from today and you’ve still got the exhaustion from yesterday. Even avian healing can’t fix plain-old exhaustion.”

Akaashi had to admit that he saw sense in Bokuto’s reasoning, so he followed his lead and walked for a while before finding a thicket to sleep in for the night. His wings were burning so much that they almost felt numb.

Dinner was pitiful, especially when compared to the heavy exertion of the day.

As night fell and the air cooled, Akaashi found himself fidgeting more and more due to the same uncomfortable chill that came with the night. But they didn’t have many sources of warmth. Besides each other.

“It’s cold. Do you want to…?” Bokuto finally asked, breaking the silence that had fallen. Akaashi turned to see him extending a wing, an invitation, and understood.

“Sure,” he replied, and didn’t waste time sliding under the offered wing. Somehow, this didn’t feel that awkward as he expected. It was actually kind of nice. The contact and warmth were welcome, especially due to the cool night air.

* * *

_He ran towards the edge of the cliff. There was nowhere else to run. Akaashi only had two options: forwards, which ended in a steep drop down into nothingness, or to turn back and give himself up to the captors he had just escaped from._

_But he’d be fine. He had avian wings now._

_He sped up his pace, and when he leaped, he spread his wings out to their full length._

_But he was falling. He frantically beat his wings, trying to gather more power behind his flaps to fly upwards._

_However, his wings only seemed to grow heavier and weaker with each flap. He was falling into darkness, powerless. Above him, his captors observed with cold eyes._

_A tendril of darkness shot out of the blackness below him and wrapped around a wrist, dragging him down. Akaashi thrashed, trying to break free, but it was no use. More dark tendrils rose up, wrapping around his wings, arms, legs, and neck, choking him and pulling him down into the dark chasm below him. Chilly air surrounded him, making him shiver._

_Entangled in darkness, he thrashed once more and managed to twist up to see what was above him._

_Above him, Bokuto leapt off the cliff and flew._

Go. Fly free! Please, don’t stop for me. _Desperate thoughts roared in Akaashi’s head, pleading with Bokuto to escape, for at least one of them to make it free._

_Bokuto looked down, and his eyes met Akaashi’s._

_A dark arrow tore through the sky and struck Bokuto. Akaashi screamed, but it was lost to the cold surrounding him._

_Bokuto fell._

It was cold when Akaashi woke, the warm weight of Bokuto’s wing gone. Shivering from a combination of both the chilly night air and the remnants of the nightmare, he sat up to look for Bokuto. Sometime during the night, he had moved and pulled his wing away from Akaashi.

A low noise cut through the night, like a strangled gasp. Turning, Akaashi spotted Bokuto lying on his side, turned away from Akaashi and with his wings wrapped around him.

Bokuto twitched in his sleep, and made that strangled noise again.

Heart twisting, Akaashi pulled himself closer to Bokuto so he could peer down on him. When he rested a hand on his shoulder, Bokuto twitched again and pulled away, mouth twisting into a thin line. With alarm, Akaashi noted what seemed like tear tracks on his face.

Long nights of uneasy sleep and nightmares returned to him, with awakenings that felt like fear tearing through his veins and ripping his mind to shreds. He remembered screams locked in his throat and eyes burning with tears.

Swallowing around a constricting throat as he understood immediately what Bokuto was suffering through, panic began to rise in him. How was he supposed to comfort someone who had nightmares?

“Bokuto. Wake up. It’s just a dream,” he muttered, reaching out and shaking his shoulder lightly.

The only response he got was a flinch as Bokuto unconsciously pulled away from him again. Remembering briefly the panic attacks he had gotten back in the compound, Akaashi tried to force down the bitter mix of sadness and fear and dull anger as he said louder, “You’re okay. It’s just a nightmare.”

When he didn’t get another response, he shoved down his awkwardness and moved forward. Remembering what Bokuto had done to ward off night terrors back at the compound, Akaashi threw a wing out, throwing it over Bokuto and lying back down next to him so he was practically wrapped around him.

“You’re okay. You’ll be fine.” Akaashi kept up some dull mantra of the same things as he wrapped an arm around Bokuto’s waist. He never initiated physical contact much, so he was still unsure as to what he should be doing. What did people do when they cuddled? The only reference he ever had were the nights he had slept in the containment room with Bokuto instead of in his own room.

He had no idea how much time passed when Bokuto stirred faintly. It might’ve been an hour, it might’ve been half a minute. “Akaashi?” Bokuto muttered, blinking his eyes open as he twisted around to look at Akaashi.

“I’m here,” Akaashi whispered. “Don’t worry, it’s just a bad dream. Nothing you saw was real.” When Bokuto didn't reply, he asked, “Are you okay?”

“...Not really.”

“I guessed. I heard you,” he murmured. “Was it...was it the humans and the compound that you were dreaming of? And...what happened to you.”

Bokuto shifted underneath Akaashi’s wing. He paused, and then nodded, keeping his eyes trained on something Akaashi couldn’t see. When he looked up to peer at Akaashi’s face, Akaashi didn’t know if his eyes seemed reflective due to owl avian eyes or because of tears. “Looks like you’re not the only one who suffers from nightmares anymore, huh?”

His heart was rending itself into pieces. How cruel did this world have to be in order to force someone who was good and kind through trauma that left mental scars, forcing them to relive the pain that they suffered and to always burden them with the reminder of what they went through? How cruel, how uncaring did the humans have to be in order to do such a thing?

“No, I guess I’m not. But our conditions are different,” Akaashi finally managed to say.

“How so?”

“Your nightmares are the result of the trauma you went through from torture.” The words felt twisted and bitter and tainted with old pain, but he forced them out anyway. “My dreams, if I’m not mistaken, are a side effect of the memory-erasing drug-” He broke off.

“You’re…?”

“I was told that lots of dreams during sleep can be a side effect of Oblivion, what they used to erase memories. I…”

The answer was always there. The reason for all those nightmares and dreams during his sleep were a side effect of Oblivion. Father had been so kind to explain the night of the botched escape that side effects of Oblivion could include lots of dreams during sleep. And he had been too caught up in helping Bokuto escape to make the connection. Later, the truth of his avian heritage and the wild escape plans had trumped everything else, leaving him no time to reflect about what the lost memories really meant and the effects on him presently.

“Akaashi?” Bokuto asked, eyes trained on him. “Are you okay?” A hand went up to Akaashi’s hair, brushing through the strands.

“Yeah. I’m okay,” he replied. “I just...never thought about what it all meant until now.”

Bokuto nodded, and he continued to play with Akaashi’s hair, stroking it back almost rhythmically. “If you ever need anything, you can always talk to me. You’re hurting, and you can use help. We’ll get through this,” he said.

The entire situation made Akaashi want to laugh and cry at the same time. Here Bokuto was, suffering through nightmares and past trauma, but he had his attention focused on comforting Akaashi because he just made an unsettling revelation. It was almost ridiculous, how much he focused on helping other people in the face of his own pain. No wonder Akaashi fought so hard to keep him safe and help him flee the compound.

“You too. We’ll get through this, and I’ll find some way to help you too,” Akaashi said, voice barely a whisper.

A nod was the only answer he got. The hand in his hair continued to move, lulling him into some sort of relaxation. When he felt himself drifting, the last thing he remembered was Bokuto underneath his wing, a hand in his hair, and their limbs tangled together.

* * *

Days and nights blended into some sort of routine as they passed. By his count, it had been almost a week of continuous flying. Every morning began with waking up, cleaning as best as they could, and eating a meager breakfast as they tried to dwindle their rapidly shrinking food supply. That was followed by hours of straight flight, broken up only by short rests and sometimes a small lunch. Often, they’d then spend time foraging for whatever Akaashi recognized as edible in the wilderness, because their food supply was running low. Then they’d fly for the rest of the day, then settle down to eat dinner and go to sleep. Whenever they slept, they slept pressed close together, limbs tangled and wings thrown over each other for warmth, sharing body heat. Much of the summer weather had passed during the month Bokuto was imprisoned, and the nights were steadily growing colder and colder. It was now impossible for Akaashi to imagine going to sleep without Bokuto’s warm form beside him and the chill pressing in around them, warded off only with layers of clothing, feathers, and their shared warmth.

Nightmares were unavoidable. But they did have each other, and they would try to comfort each other through the night terrors, with wings flung over each other, muttering phrases of comfort. Every time they went to sleep, it was like gambling with the chance for a peaceful sleep or one riddled with bad dreams and trauma. The whole thing made Akaashi want to scream or cry. Both of them now had issues with sleeping and dreams and Bokuto was still suffering trauma from his captivity, and the only thing they could do was keep flying and hold out until they arrived at Fukurodani, where there might be therapists or doctors that could help.

The wound from where Akaashi had cut out his tracking chip steadily improved. He had stolen some medical supplies from the compound and a first-aid kit, and through continuous care of his injury, it slowly patched itself up. Several days after leaving the compound, he woke to find it almost completely healed, the areas where it had scabbed over peeling away to reveal new skin, the patch of bloodied flesh closed up. Much to his relief, his avian healing had worked to heal the wound quickly and stave off infection while it was at it. Only a light scar was left behind when the wound healed.

Somehow, his flight began to grow stronger as well as the days passed. For the first few days, his wings ached with every movement, exhaustion making them clumsy and hard to control. But he somehow began to become accustomed to the ache, flying through it (although Bokuto always insisted that he take proper time to rest because overexerting himself had the complete opposite effect of what they wanted). The familiar ache of exhaustion began to dwindle, as his wings grew stronger, until on the morning of the fifth day, Akaashi woke to find his wings only slightly sore. The motions of flight were eventually worked into muscle memory after so many hours going over the movements.

And soon after that, Bokuto had him learning how to fly silently. It took a while to even train the basic technique into his wing motions. Needing to refine the rough movements he used when flying into flaps that would make no noise when he moved was another thing entirely from learning the basics of flight. According to Bokuto, the trick to quiet flight was powerful but controlled wing movements that would allow the air to flow smoothly over feathers in a way that wouldn’t make noise with every wingbeat.

Well, at least his flight was now much quieter than it was when he first started flying. There were times at the end of long flights where Akaashi wasn’t able to control his wingbeats and instead flapped erratically, exhaustion making it difficult for controlled, silent flight. (However, Bokuto’s flight remained silent throughout all their flights.)

If there was one thing, it was that Akaashi was surely getting stronger. He could now almost always keep up with Bokuto as they flew, and the feeling of air rushing past his face and whipping his hair every which way became ever more familiar with every passing day.

During their flights, they would sometimes chat. Not often, because the howling wind often took their words away, but Bokuto would sometimes talk about avian traditions and lifestyle and, more often, ask questions about how humans lived. Akaashi found himself replying out of curiosity more than anything, but as time passed, he eventually began to learn how much he appreciated having company with him. If he were alone on this journey, he might’ve gone mad from hearing nothing about the roar of wind and his own ragged breaths and quiet movements. Not to mention that he probably wouldn’t know how to navigate. Only now was he appreciating the Scouts’ policy of always having at least two avians partnered together on missions out to sky, and understood slightly their fear of the so-called “sky madness”.

By the end of the week, they had covered quite a lot of ground. The landscape they flew past was more of the same, grasslands and sparse trees here and there. Sometimes, there was a stream winding past hills or small forests. And of course, the sea, always at the bottom of a cliffside or at the end of a sloping hill. Their way northward was parallel to the cliff.

He eventually became used to seeing the world both from above and from on the ground. The bird’s-eye view of the ground from far up above, something that he was curious about seeing for a while, was now something that he constantly saw as he flew, even if they didn’t fly that high up.

On their ninth day, Akaashi woke to find Bokuto sitting off to the side, peering up at the overcast sky.

“What is it?” he asked, getting up to move next to Bokuto, trying to shake the sleep out of his limbs.

“I think now’s a good time for us to try flying up to Fukurodani,” Bokuto replied. “The islands drift pretty slowly, and we’ve been moving pretty fast. Nine days might be enough to cover all the missing ground the island covered in the last month or so.”

“Just how slow do they drift?” Akaashi asked to ward off the nervousness that began to rise in him at the thought of leaving the ground and flying so high up into the sky.

“Pretty slow. Much slower than avians can fly. That means that they drift, but they don’t drift very far each year. Their drift cycles are...pretty big, but also pretty small, if you get what I mean.”

Not really, but he did get what Bokuto was trying to say. “So...do we continue our journey for today, and then try flying up in the afternoon?” Akaashi asked.

“Sure. We can fly in the morning, rest for most of the afternoon, and then fly in the evening. It might get dark, but we can see in the darkness. We’re owl avians.”

After a short breakfast and rest, they got up to continue flying. Stretching out his wings the way Bokuto taught him (he had taught him the importance of stretching properly before and after long, intense marathon flights to avoid cramps and other possible muscle conditions) Akaashi broke out into a takeoff run, following Bokuto. (Takeoff runs were always ideal for a good liftoff. Standing liftoffs were also possible, but Bokuto had insisted that they were much harder to do and that running liftoffs were easier for Akaashi as a beginner. After testing both of them out, Akaashi had agreed.) He leapt into the air, spreading his wings and beating them down in a heavy downstroke to gain power, the now familiar sensation of rising taking hold of him as they left the ground behind.

As planned, they stopped by the time noon came around, lighting down on the ground and pausing to eat and replenish supplies. The afternoon was spent with only idle chatter to entertain themselves with. At least they had a good view of the sea, though. Their resting place was a little ways away from a low cliff that dropped into the ocean.

Apprehension began to draw tight around his chest as evening approached: the sensation of a nearing challenge that needed to be overcome, a feeling that Akaashi had become familiar with over the last month or so at the compound as he worked around difficult problems to try to help Bokuto escape, to dig around the archives for information, and then escape the compound himself with Bokuto.

Dinner was a quiet affair. After about another hour of rest, most of which was spent packing up all their supplies, and the sun began to slide down towards the horizon, Bokuto got up. Recognizing that their strenuous flight up was about to begin, Akaashi got to his feet and stood beside him, securing his bag on his back.

“From here, we should be flying straight up. ‘Course, it’s difficult to just fly straight up. We’ll be moving more at a diagonal, but as long as we get enough altitude, it should be fine,” Bokuto said, surveying the clouds.

“Right,” Akaashi said, trying to ignore the fear that threatened to chain him to the ground when he followed Bokuto’s line of sight. Even throughout their entire journey away from the compound, he hadn’t paid the sky and its vastness much attention. But now, it seemed to stretch upwards, impossibly high. If there was a floating island somewhere up there, beyond the cloud cover, he didn’t see it.

“Ready, Akaashi?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be, I suppose.”

“Good enough.”

With a nod, Bokuto started running, spreading his wings out behind him. Akaashi broke out into a sprint and followed him, leaping into the air and beating down heavily with his wings as Bokuto did. The sensation of air bunching under his wings and lifting him up was now something he was familiar with.

The ground dropped away as he soared into the sky, Bokuto’s black and white wings churning the air silently beside him. Cool air rushed past him as they flew.

Flying upwards was strenuous work, much more than just maintaining altitude. Even though his wings began to ache a little, Akaashi didn’t allow himself to think too much of it. What was important was that they gained enough distance and altitude to reach the floating isles.

“Don’t look down!” Bokuto called through the whipping wind.

“Why not?”

“You’ll get dizzy if you do. You need to stay focused.”

He nodded, turning his attention back to the sensation of beating wings and churning air.

Everything eventually began to fade into a monotonous background blur. Even the wildly blowing wings and rapidly moving air and the sensation of upwards movement, so intense when they first started moving, began to blur into dull background white noise. The clouds looked...slightly closer, if he really paid attention.

Akaashi was almost tempted to look down and see how far up they had flown, but he knew that Bokuto was right. It couldn’t be a good idea. And he didn’t need to see just how far he would fall if his wings happened to fail, leaving him to gravity’s mercy.

The first signs of trouble began to manifest themselves in the form of growing storm clouds and falling darkness around them. The air began to chill and the winds began to pick up.

It took every little unit of strength he had in himself to keep his body steady in the turbulent winds. They whirled and howled around him, threatening to pull the control he had over the air around him away from him and cause his wings to give out.

Akaashi fought to stay on course. Every time he pushed down in a downstroke, it felt like trying to push through water instead of air. The wind made it difficult to control his movements, not only by making it hard to flap in a steady rhythm, but because fear threatened him to give up all semblance of rhythm and just flap as quickly and powerfully as he could manage.

Through the darkness, he could still make out Bokuto’s form up ahead, silhouetted against the dark clouds.

He tipped his head up further, craning his slightly sore neck to observe the clouds above them. When had they gotten so thick and dark?

“Should we turn back, Bokuto?” Akaashi called.

“No! We can make it!”

When a storm was looming before them? “The weather looks bad. I don’t know if I’ll be able to fly through it.”

“Keep your wings as steady as you can, and keep maintaining rhythm. Count your wingbeats if it helps! Besides, it does look bad, but a little rain can’t hurt much. It’s the thunderstorms we gotta look out for.”

“Well, this looks like thunderstorm conditions to me!”

“If we can just get to any land here, then we’ll be able to ride out the storm! Come on, just a little higher!”

Gritting his teeth, Akaashi pushed down in a particularly forceful downstroke to right himself and lend some more power to his flight, and continued on the journey upwards. His wings were now aching in full. The sky, blanketed in dark grey clouds, looked like an endless, dark ceiling stretching out above them. He couldn’t tell how close it looked, but he thought it did look closer than it did when they were starting out on their flight.

Something cold and wet landed on his feathers, and he shook them out with a strong downstroke. It was beginning to rain in a light pattern, raindrops soaking cold and wet into his feathers, clothes, and hair, pressing uncomfortably against his skin.

“Come on! It’s just a little rain!” called Bokuto.

A mix of frustration and fear began to bubble up in his chest, and Akaashi tried to channel more force into his wings to follow Bokuto’s path up. His wings were burning with exertion, but the water soaking them was uncomfortably cold. The winds had grown stronger still, and his wings weren’t strong enough to cut through them, weighed down with water and exhaustion. The journey so far had allowed him to grow stronger in his flight, but not strong enough to the point where he could completely keep up with Bokuto, flying through heavy storms and wind and rain like it was absolutely nothing. This wasn’t even mentioning the fact that Bokuto had trained for years in how to fly and navigate as a Scout apprentice, and Akaashi had spent most of his life without his wings.

The rain began to intensify, coming down harder than before. The clouds now looked close, but that did nothing to reassure Akaashi. Darkness now almost completely engulfed them, but Akaashi could see easily enough when he blinked the water out of his eyes.

He wasn’t keeping track of time, only focusing on the beat of his wings and his harsh breaths. The rain was pouring down by now, a constant downpour that roared in his ears and mixed in with the raging wings into a din that drowned out almost everything else.

Completely drenched by now, flying was harder than it was before. His soaked wings weighed more than before. It was now almost completely black, and now sight was difficult, made even harder by the water continuously running down his face and into his eyes.

A flash of lightning caused Akaashi to startle. Thunder crashed, and he yelled, “We need to turn back! It’s a thunderstorm!”

He wasn’t sure if Bokuto heard him, but either he did or he had the same thought process as Akaashi, because he flew down until he was level with Akaashi, and called over the din of the storm, “Head back down! Keep your wings spread and glide slowly down. Slowly! Avoid looking down whenever you can!”

Both slightly relieved that they didn’t have to continue this wild chase in these conditions and frustrated that it took Bokuto until now to decide that they had to turn back, Akaashi spread out his exhausted wings and began to drift down slowly, rain and thunder crashing around them. Bokuto stayed level with him, always in his field of vision.

His wings were trembling with exertion and it felt like he had lost feeling in them, but Akaashi tried his best at keeping them steady. He supposed that they were descending, but he didn’t look down.

The winds tore and buffeted at his shaking form, threatening to tear his already precarious exhaustion-riddled form down into a weak, trembling frame that couldn’t support its own weight, threatening to cast him down and let gravity take him.

“Wings out, Akaashi!”

Bokuto’s shout was what alerted Akaashi that his wings were starting to close, drooping with tiredness, and he forced them out again, trying to push strength out to them from reserves that were already drained dry by the flight upwards.

A flash of lightning caused him to blink rapidly. The world was a mess to him now, nothing but a field of chaos and noise and danger, cold winds ripping at his tired wings and cold rain drenching him to his skin, illuminated in brief flashes of lighting that almost blinded him in comparison to the constant darkness that surrounded them when there was no lightning. Shaking his head to clear it, Akaashi righted himself again, blinking his eyes as clear as he could with water streaming down his face. His head began to droop downwards. How far did they need to get back to solid land?

“Akaashi!”

He bent his head, squinting through the darkness to try and see how far below the ground was. And then many things happened at once.

Lightning flashed again, practically blinding him but also lighting up the world around him and letting him see that far below him was the crashing of waves. The drop was dizzying, making his head spin.

The wind roared, and then his wings gave out at the forceful shove of one particularly powerful gust of wind.

Akaashi fell.

Somewhere from beside him Bokuto cried out.

Gravity took a hold of him as he careened sickeningly towards the crashing sea, far below him. Akaashi forced his wings out, tried to flap to try and regain even a little balance to support himself, but not much happened. His wings were tired, feathers soaked through with water, and he only succeeded in slowing down his fall. He needed to bring a complete halt to his fall and then regain balance so he could fly properly, but his fall only slowed.

Forgetting all rhyme or reason or rhythm, pure fear-driven instinct taking over, he thrashed madly, flapping his wings as powerfully and as quickly as he could.

It probably worked to some degree. His fall began to slow further.

The wind roared again, and then gravity was tearing at him again, pulling down into the darkness as surely as if they had reached out tendrils and wrapped them around him, dragging him down. What little ground he had gained by slowing down his fall was lost. Fear, sickening and intense and all-consuming, tore through him, and it was mixed with chilling despair that only served to pull him down further.

The air was shocked out of his lungs when he hit the freezing water.

* * *

Panic tore painfully through him, ripping through his heart as he watched Akaashi fall and vanish into the dark water. “Akaashi!” Bokuto screamed.

No, not Akaashi. Not Akaashi, who fought so hard to free them both from the humans’ captivity. Who wanted to learn about the avians out of curiosity, who wanted to see them both freed, who still cared about and worried for the people who took his wings away and locked his true heritage away. Who learned how to fly and improved faster than Bokuto ever expected, who still suffered from terrible nightmares, who cared about him and tried to help him through his own nightmares, who was _reasonable_ about flying into storms. Who still had so much more to learn about and explore. Not Akaashi.

He was now fairly close to the water, having thrown himself into a steeper descent when he first saw Akaashi pulled down by that draft of wind, and he scanned the water.

There was movement, and Akaashi surfaced only to be dragged back down under the waves. He needed to do something.

Cringing and bracing for the shock of the cold water, Bokuto folded his wings and dove, then pulled out of his dive in a sharp turn so he was skimming the choppy water, flying parallel to the water. He squinted through the rain and flashing lightning, mapping out where Akaashi had vanished in his head, using a Scout recovery technique used to fish avians that had fallen into water without actually diving into the water to pull them out. He had learned this technique in his Scout training, but never thought he’d actually have to use it.

_Please, please let him be okay. Please._

The waves flew by underneath him as the destination he pinpointed rushed closer and closer towards him. The waves crashed, and he caught a tang of seawater. He dimly noted that the water was salty.

Turning all his attention back to his flight, he squinted and focused his vision.

Just as he was coming up to the spot in the choppy water that he had pinpointed, he dipped lower, plunging his arms into the cold water while still maintaining forward flight. The chill was a shock that traveled up his arms and froze his skin painfully, but he continued.

His hands grasped something and he immediately gripped it as firmly as he could, and channeled as much power as he could to his wings, attempting to pull out of his low flight.

He managed to gain back a little altitude as he flew up, away from the water and crashing waves, Akaashi held firmly and dangling by an arm from his hands. Through the rain and crashing water, Bokuto could hear Akaashi coughing, which eased up some of the panicked fear choking and flooding his chest. And then, guilt ended up replacing the fear.

He had been the one to push so far. He had been the one to convince both of them that they should keep pushing when it should’ve been obvious that bad weather was coming, and he still continued. And now both of them were freezing, soaking wet, and would probably suffer from hypothermia if they didn’t get to land soon. That was, if they didn’t end up falling into the water and drowning first.

Akaashi was heavy, weighed down with water and his bags of supplies (which were probably all soaked through by now). He was much heavier now than when Bokuto had flown around with him back in the humans’ captivity, but he didn’t have his wings back then. He had his wings now, plus a bunch of other supplies he was carrying.

Adjusting his grip so that he held Akaashi by his shoulders than one arm in a more secure hold, Bokuto called, “Just hang on, Akaashi! We’ll get to land!”

Akaashi didn’t answer, but he did bob his head a little, and Bokuto suddenly had difficulty swallowing around his rising guilt.

Another flash of lighting lit up the world in a blinding light, and he could see the outline of land in the distance. His wings were burning and it was freezing, but he didn’t allow himself to stop. Arms aching from carrying Akaashi, he continued to fly.

Time had dulled into an exhaustion-muddled mass, but he was aware of when land began to loom up ahead of them.

“There’s a beach.” Akaashi’s voice was so weak that Bokuto almost thought he imagined it for a second. “Land over there. There might be more shelter by the cliffs from the storm.”

Following his directions, Bokuto pushed down in a series of heavy downstrokes with the little strength he had left. When he lighted down on the sand where Akaashi directed, he only managed to set Akaashi down lightly on the ground before crashing on the sand in a messy heap beside him. It was freezing, and every part of him ached.

Beside him, Akaashi was fighting to stay balanced on the wet sand, and Bokuto managed to stumble back on his feet. They began to run towards the cliffs, pressing close to the rock faces, so soaked through that he barely registered the uncomfortable feeling of chilled wet cloth pressed against his skin.

After some more running on unstable, wet sand, they managed to reach an indent in the cliff face, a shallow cave. Akaashi stumbled inside first, then collapsed on the ground. It was cold in the cave, chilly air pressing around him, but at least there was protection from the rain. The storm was now nothing more than rain drumming against the stone cliffs and distant thunder crashing.

Bokuto wanted to do something similar, but he still nudged Akaashi up. “Come on,” he muttered. “You need to get changed. We don’t need you catching a cold or getting hypothermia or something.”

“The bags should be waterproof. I think everything in mine was soaked when I fell into the water, so look in yours,” Akaashi mumbled as he complied, peeling off layer and layer of soaked clothing and laying them out on the ground to dry.

Bokuto managed to undo the straps holding his bags in place with numb fingers, letting them crash to the ground. When he opened the bags, he was relieved to see that Akaashi’s predictions had been right, and everything was dry for the most part. Picking out some thick sweaters and pants, he tossed them at Akaashi before fumbling to change himself. “Might wanna dry off,” he said, tossing another spare shirt in his direction for that purpose.

Even in somewhat dry clothing and only slightly damp, it was still cold. Everything that had been soaked in the flight was laid out to dry, leaving only a little room in their tiny cave near the very back. Bokuto settled down against the stone wall, opening one wing. Akaashi immediately accepted the suggestion and curled up next to him, throwing another wing over him so both of them were tangled up in a mess of limbs, sheltered somewhat from the storm.

It was quiet at last, and he found the guilt rising up to swamp him.

“I’m sorry,” he blurted. “I should’ve-I should’ve seen the signs of a storm, and turned back early. I’m sorry we’re caught in this mess.”

“It’s okay,” Akaashi replied.

“Wha-you’re not mad?”

“Honestly, yes.”

He blinked at him. “Why aren’t you yelling at me? You could’ve died.”

Sighing, Akaashi said, “I know you just wanted to get back home. I know you were probably scared, and didn’t want to stay on the ground any longer.”

He...was he? Was he really so afraid and so impatient that he’d risk it to fly through a thunderstorm if it meant going back to Fukurodani a little earlier?

“It’s okay to be scared. After what you’ve been through, I can’t even blame you. But you need to know that you can’t let emotion dictate everything,” Akaashi said.

He was right. “Okay. You’re right. I’ll be more careful,” Bokuto finally said, although it did little to ease the guilt burning his throat.

"I won't lecture you, because it looks like you already understand yourself."

He only nodded in reponse.

Akaashi nodded, and then asked, “But what was all that about not looking down? What is it about flying so high and looking down that can cause dizziness?”

Slightly grateful for the change in topic, Bokuto said, “When flying too high above land or clouds, the difference in altitude they see when looking down can make fliers disorientated. It’s fairly common with people new to flying, but more experienced fliers won’t get dizzy looking down. It’s mostly new fliers who have that problem.”

“So like getting motion sick?”

“Motion sick? Why’d you get motion sick if you’re moving?”

“No, as in...you yourself are staying still while being transported by another method of movement. Feeling ill when that happens.” Akaashi paused, then asked, “You...do have other methods of movement, right? Like-”

“Yeah, I know what you mean. I guess getting dizzy by looking down so far is a form of motion sickness. It’s just that avians usually get around by flying there themselves. We’ve gotten used to it. There are some that say they get sick from being moved by kite or by cloud surfers, but those cases are very rare.”

“What’s a cloud surfer?” Perking up slightly, Akaashi turned his full attention on Bokuto, the gleam of curiosity Bokuto had come to expect and sometimes love returning to his eyes.

“They’re animals we use to pull carts or kites around or sometimes carry avians around. They’re pretty common on the islands.”

“I sometimes forget that you must have a whole new world up there with plant and animal life humans have never seen before,” he murmured. “What do they look like?”

Attention now completely focused on their discussion, Bokuto called to mind the image of a cloud surfer. “They can be a bunch of different colours. Usually they’re white, or any shade of grey, or black. Or they can be a mix of any of those colours. They have four legs and two wings.”

“Do they have fur or feathers?”

“Both. Probably more feathers than fur, though.”

“A beak or snout?”

“A beak...snout? Like...it looks like a beak but it’s shaped like a snout.”

Making a noise akin to a snort, Akaashi asked, “What kind of animal is it? Bird or mammal?”

“It’s got warm blood. And most of what we have in the sky is at least part bird, so I don’t really know what you’re asking. It’s a sky creature.” Bokuto tipped his head to the side. He hadn’t seen many animals on the ground, but everything in the sky had at least feathers or wings.

“Lovely. We must classify creatures differently too. How big is it?”

“Way bigger than an avian. Has a really big wingspan too. It’s a transport animal, so of course it is.”

“Domesticated?”

“Yeah, but there are wild cloud surfers too.”

“Ah. And transport kites? How do they work?” Akaashi asked.

Bokuto could feel himself relaxing against Akaashi, mind drifting back to his home in the sky. “They’re just big kites used to move supplies from one island to another, or from one part of an island to another part of the same island. But if they are leaving the island, they do so in a convoy with other kites and with other avians escorting them. It’s dangerous just for one small group to go alone. Easy to get lost. And of course, they do always need a few Scouts to go with them.”

“And the kites are pulled by cloud surfers, right?”

“Yeah. And a few avians too.”

The storm was now background noise, a calm rhythm drumming in the backdrop as they chatted. The last thing Bokuto could remember before drifting off was the darkness of the cave, the chill pressing in from where he was curled around Akaashi.

* * *

The next morning dawned bright and damp. The air carried the scent of dew. The storm had passed overnight and the skies had cleared to reveal the sun starting its ascent across the sky. But the air was still chilly, the cool tang of an autumn morning hitting the back of his throat, and it was with some difficulty that Akaashi crawled out from underneath Bokuto’s wing that morning, disentangling himself and pulling the wings that he had wrapped around Bokuto back behind himself. His wings ached.

“Morning already?” Bokuto muttered, sitting up.

“Yes,” Akaashi replied, crouching down on the cave floor to sort through all their supplies. Everything that had been soaked in the flight last night was still slightly damp.

After a tiny breakfast out of the food they still had, Bokuto said, “You might want to rinse off all the salt from the sea. When you fell in it last night.”

Now that he mentioned it, Akaashi could feel the grittiness of against his skin and had to suppress a shudder at the memory of the cold water slamming into him in a hard, painful impact, and the cold and salty waves as they closed over his head and dragged him under, stinging his face and chilling him to the bone.

There was a stream only a short flight away from the seaside cave where they had taken shelter, which he shakily managed on wings sore from navigating last night’s storm. The water in the stream was ice-cold, and he tensed up every time the freezing water met his skin, not warmed up by the sun yet. Even so, he managed to rise off all the salt that had dried on him, scrubbing it off his skin and out of his hair and feathers, shivering all the while.

Bokuto had stayed behind to guard their supplies and the cave in the meantime, and when Akaashi returned, they traded off posts. Akaashi settled himself down on a damp rock to wait for Bokuto to return, watching the sun make its slow arc up into the sky.

“So...are we trying again today?” Akaashi asked once Bokuto returned, gliding down from the top of the low cliff to land on the damp sand next to him. “To try and fly up to Fukurodani?”

Seeming to survey him for a few seconds as he moved to sit down beside him, Bokuto replied, “No. We’re both tired from last night. I thought we could spend today just resting and foraging for more supplies, and then try again tomorrow. I also don’t think we should continue flying, because then we might end up overshooting Fukurodani and then end up not even knowing if we should go back or continue flying forward when we get up into the sky.”

“Oh. Okay.” The response was quite reasonable, so he couldn’t argue. Akaashi nodded and turned his gaze back to the crashing waves not far from where both of them were sitting.

“Don’t look down next time,” Bokuto said, tone only half-joking. “There’s a time for looking down and looking back, but flying so high up into the sky without any solid ground below you is not a good time.”

Wincing slightly at the memory of last night, the dizzying drop below him lit up sickeningly with only bright flashes of lightning, Akaashi nodded again. “The way you phrase it sounds so...risky. Like we’re planning to fly out into the middle of this dangerous area with no support and no backup.”

“Well, I thought that’s exactly what we’re planning on,” he replied. “C’mon, ‘Kaashi. We’re planning to fly high up into the empty sky with no place to rest to look for the floating home of the avians, with absolutely no one to help us but ourselves and nothing to arm ourselves with but our own wits. If that’s not what you described, I don’t know what is.”

When he put it like that, he was exactly right.

The day passed by surprisingly peacefully, even with the looming task of what was to come before them, spent gathering food, edible berries and plants and then packing them away. (Hunting wasn’t a good idea because they didn’t have ways to cook meat even if they did manage to catch something.) They cleaned up what they had lying around in their cave, washing their supplies off in the streams (which thankfully had warmed up a little in the sunlight) and then left them back out to try. They were in the middle of the wilderness, trying to survive in harsh conditions and subsisting on the rough diet and lifestyle, but it felt surprisingly homely. Just them working together and going through chores to ensure their continued survival.

As afternoon passed and the sun began to descend over the horizon, they both settled down on the beach to eat. The evening was spent in a peaceful silence broken up only by the wind and crashing waves, watching the sun set over the ocean waves, painting the sky in warm shades of orange and yellow and pink and casting gold rays over the darkening sea, making the water sparkle in the evening.

The air cooled, carrying the salty tang of the sea that Akaashi had become used to in the days leaving the compound. Breathing in the cool, fresh air, he stood up from where he was sitting on the beach beside Bokuto, shaking sand out of his wings.

If everything went well, Akaashi wouldn’t be seeing the ground for at least quite a while.

Heading back inside their seaside cave and settling down beside Bokuto to go to sleep felt like returning home.

* * *

Abandoning the ground was...actually kind of difficult. While Bokuto was of course eager to go home, he wasn’t looking forward to the long and risky trip they still had ahead of them, especially when the storm the night before had shown him just how much they had to lose. Both of them woke late that morning, the sun already some distance up in the sky and gold sunlight pouring in through the cave entrance.

The morning was spent cleaning up all the supplies they still had lying around the cave, as well as gathering any extra food or water they would need for the trip upwards. Both of them moved without hurry, neatly and methodically folding and putting away and organizing their bags and discussing flight maneuvers. When Akaashi asked about the diving maneuver Bokuto performed in order to fish Akaashi out of the water when he fell into the sea, he explained about it being a Scout maneuver used to pull avians out of water without actually diving into the water after them, because water takeoffs were difficult.

“There are some avians who are good at water takeoffs and diving,” Bokuto added. “Water avians, or waterfowl avians.”

“There are big enough bodies of water up on the floating islands?”

“Yep, although nothing as big as the lakes or the sea you told me about. There’s salty water too up there.”

“And...just how many types of avians are there?”

“Uh, lots? Quite a few.”

Their discussion then trailed off into avian species and living patterns. By the time everything was packed away and they had rested long enough after eating (because it wasn’t a good idea to perform taxing activities such as the long power flight they were about to do on their way up immediately after eating) it was already almost noon.

Patting the side of the cave goodbye, because as ridiculous as it was, he had gotten attached to the small area that they had taken shelter in after the storm and was almost sad to leave it behind, Bokuto stepped out onto the beach and flew up to where Akaashi was standing on the cliff.

The sky was clear, only a few clouds drifting here and there. While it provided for lots of sunlight and would allow for them to see in all directions to make out any landforms or signs of Fukurodani, it also made their task seem so much more daunting, unveiling the sheer vastness of the sky for them to see.

“Not much wind today. That won’t be an advantage or a disadvantage, because while we won’t be pushed around, we also won’t have much of a tailwind to give us a boost,” Bokuto commented.

Akaashi nodded, his gaze distant, focused on something Bokuto couldn’t see.

“Akaashi?”

“Yeah. I’m okay. I...just don’t know what I’m feeling right now. I don’t know if I’m supposed to feel sad at leaving the area that was my home all these years, I don’t know if I’m excited to be seeing a whole new world that I would’ve grown up in if I weren’t thrown off the islands by the barrier winds. It just feels...so final. Like I know there’s no going back. And there is really no chance of going back, of exploring human territory further, isn’t there?” Akaashi murmured. “Even you talked about it yourself. Avians tell horror stories about what humans can do, what they did. And now, I’ve seen evidence of that firsthand.”

“Yes, avians tell horror stories about humans, warning us never to fly too close to the ground. Or the humans will hurt us.”

“Exactly.”

“But I like to think somewhat differently now.”

Akaashi jerked his head to the side, peering at Bokuto with surprised eyes. “How can you say that? The humans hurt you, there’s no denying that. You can’t even sleep peacefully now because of them.”

“Yes. I can’t deny that. But I found you, didn’t I? You thought you were human, you acted as if you were human. But you saved me.”

“I’m avian.”

“But you acted like a human, and you saved me. I was saved by an avian posing as a human without even knowing.” Bokuto rested what he hoped was a comforting hand on Akaashi’s wing. “And don’t forget that other human, too. The one with the erased memories.”

Akaashi pressed his lips into a thin line and looked away. “I never got to see her again after that night. The last thing I ever saw of her was just after she got all her memories erased. I never got to tell her that I fulfilled what was asked of me - I never got to tell her that I now know what I need to do, never got to tell her that what must’ve been her grand plan succeeded. Both avians confined in that research lab are now free. I never even knew her name.” His voice cracked on those last few words.

Swallowing around a sudden tightness in his throat, Bokuto allowed his hand to stroke back and forth over Akaashi’s feathers. “And yet more proof. All humans aren’t evil, are they? Sure, even if most of them are, there are always the rare few.”

“But those few really must be rare. Remember, I told you I never really spent much time outside of the compound. All my life I’ve lived there. Well, all of the life I can remember, anyway. I don’t know any people outside of that compound.”

A confusing mix of bitterness, fear, anger, and hesitant hope began to burn low in Bokuto’s chest. Bitterness for what they did to him and Akaashi, fear for what he had experienced, anger for their deliberately painful actions, hope that not all humans were as bad as the stories said. “Well, the people at the compound did spare your life. And I’m grateful for that. Even if they did torture me repeatedly and chopped my wings off, which I hate them for, they saved you,” he said, suppressing a shudder of fear and revulsion at the memories of burning pain that tried to surface. “Yes, humans are evil. Not all of them are, though.”

He moved so quickly that Bokuto didn’t have time to respond. Before he could move, he found Akaashi’s arms and wings wrapped around him.

“Hey. What’s this about?” he tried to ask as lightly as he could.

“Sorry.”

“No, don’t apologize.”

“It’s just...how? How can you be so positive like this?”

“I...don’t know what you really mean. Is just that...what I all said is true, isn’t it?”

Akaashi laughed shakily, a noise that made his heart both jump in surprise and ache at how weak and strained it sounded.

Both of them stood there without moving for another while longer, and then Akaashi broke away from the embrace, folding his wings back behind him. “Okay. I’m okay now.”

“Okay.” Bokuto nodded. “So, do you want to…yet?”

“Yes. Let’s go. It’s just, I might actually miss this place, even though this is where I fought so hard to escape. Strange, isn’t it?”

“Well, yeah, I’d say it is. But we’ve made a choice and we have no choice but to follow through on it.”

“I know.”

“So, let’s fly?”

“Yes.”

“Don’t look down this time.”

“Okay.”

Akaashi nodded, and Bokuto turned to face the land in front of them, breaking out into a run, and then springing up into the air and pushing down with a heavy wingbeat, rising into the air.

Turning back to check on Akaashi, he saw him flying into the air just behind him. Once he was reassured that Akaashi showed no signs of falling, he turned his attention to the air in front of him. The day was brightly lit, and the blue sky and white clouds were the main thing taking up his attention as they rose into the air.

Akaashi really had improved over the long days they were flying. He could mostly keep up with Bokuto now, and Bokuto couldn’t hear the sound of his wingbeats. There were times when he heard that whistling noise of air being pushed roughly through owl avian feathers at the end of long flights when they were too tired to keep proper form, but now, freshly rested and only at the beginning of a long flight, Akaashi was completely silent.

Cool winds began to buffet at them some time after leaving the ground. Sparing a cursory glance down, Bokuto noticed Akaashi still keeping pace behind him, his black and grey wings still beating steadily, and below him, the ground and sea spread out in a map of green, brown, and blue. They were quite high up, but not high enough to reach the clouds where they were aiming.

They really had no way of knowing where Fukurodani was, and there weren’t many options for resting once they got up high enough into the clouds. The plan they had mapped out was to take flights upward into the clouds and then scout around for the floating island or for any landmarks Bokuto recognized, and if they couldn’t see anything with enough searching, they would descend back to the ground, rest for a while, before continuing their journey northward close to the ground and then picking another time to fly up into the clouds and look again for Fukurodani. It might be overly taxing and time-consuming, but they didn’t have a choice.

Time had dulled into a blurred mass. Both of them could probably manage at least a few hours of straight flight, Bokuto undoubtedly longer than Akaashi, so they had at least a couple hours of upwards flight before they’d have to level out to search for the island and then end up flying back down to the ground.

All of the sensations that were so chilling when they first set out, the whipping winds roaring in the background and the bright skies above them, became nothing more than background noise. It was an experience Bokuto knew well - it was that moment you became accustomed to everything being thrown at you and they became nothing more than part of the scenery as you continued. It was something he knew from long training sessions flying into storms.

The clouds neared closer and closer as time passed, and when Bokuto peered down, craning his neck, much more of the ground and ocean were visible from their vantage point so high up, suspended in the air with nothing but their wings to hold them up.

“Don’t look down, Akaashi!” he called when Akaashi peered curiously at him, meeting his eyes. “I’m just checking how far up we are, but you might get dizzy again, so don’t look down.”

“Right.”

The sky was so bright. He had no idea how long it had been, but his wings were beginning to burn a little. Even if it hadn’t been as long as it normally took to wear him out, upwards flight was much more exhausting than forward flight, so he wouldn’t be surprised. What he was concerned more about was Akaashi.

“Akaashi? You okay?” he called after some more time had passed.

“Yes, I’m okay. We can keep moving,” came the response, but he could detect the strain behind it.

“Tell me if you think you’re getting too tired. It won’t help to have a repeat of what happened last time we tried this.”

“Last time we tried this, we were flying into a storm. This is a little easier.”

Wincing with guilt, Bokuto said, “Yeah. But let me know anyways.” He wasn’t sure if that jab was intentional or not.

The clouds looked much bigger than they were then they first started.

“Breathe in as deeply as you can,” Bokuto called back to Akaashi. “The air’s thinner up here. Avians are adapted to these atmospheres, but you’ve spent most of your life on the ground, so I don’t know how you’ll adapt here.”

“Okay,” Akaashi said, but it sounded breathless.

More time passed in a blur of moving wings, whipping winds, cool air, and bright sunlight. He didn’t know how long it was, but he still felt fine to fly longer and Akaashi hadn’t said anything. The sunlight had deepened, transitioning from bright noon lighting to slightly slanted afternoon light. The cloud cover had become noticeably thicker since they began their flight, but he could still see patches of blue beyond the layer of white.

Anticipation began to spark in his chest. The clouds looked so close now, almost close enough to touch. A raw sort of excitement began to rise, fueling his tired wings. There was a perfectly placed patch of blue in the thick blanket of white just above them, an opening to the world above the clouds. They soared towards it.

Akaashi gasped behind them as they flew into the opening, into the cloud layer, white walls rising around them. Bokuto grinned, something caught between awe and exhilaration running through his heart. It was like flying through a closed tunnel of white.

The tunnel walls then burst backwards as they left it behind and soared up into open air, the white tunnel walls of cloud opening up to reveal the clear blue sky beyond. The low clouds fell away behind them as they rose up past the lowest clouds and into the sky. Bokuto levelled off his ascent into forward flight. A bit of relief flowed through his wings, now that they were in a slightly more relaxed, extended position than the constant powerful downstrokes that were needed to fly so far upwards. It wasn’t much, though. His wings were still burning and his breaths were coming fast and ragged.

Akaashi leveled off too beside Bokuto. Their long upwards ascent was finished at the moment, and now it was time to look for a giant floating island. Fukurodani might be somewhere above them, or somewhere off to the side, but either way, with these clear skies and bright light, they should be able to see it easily enough.

Bokuto peered back down. The cloud cover really had increased by quite a bit since this noon, blanketing practically everything below them in white, like a sea of clouds stretching underneath them in every direction. Through the small opening which they had flown through, he could see a tiny patch of blue and green.

“So, what next?” Akaashi said, practically gasping.

Alarmed, Bokuto turned his attention away from the gap in the clouds and said, “Fly around a little. Look for a giant island. You don’t sound very okay, Akaashi.”

“I’ll be fine. Just tired.”

“That sounds like more than tiredness. It’s probably the thin air.”

“I’ll be okay. We’ll just look around for a little, and then fly back down if we can’t find anything.”

Worry began to overtake excitement, Bokuto nodded and pushed down in a slow downstroke to begin a slower flight forwards.

All around them was nothing but blue and larger clouds rising from the sea of clouds below them, like mountains off in the distance. For all their distance and size and appearance, they probably could be mountains. When Bokuto pointed it out, Akaashi asked, “You have mountains up here?”

“A few, on the biggest islands, but yeah.”

According to the compass, they were still flying north, but not much appeared. Only the clouds moving slowly around them, shifting around them in an ever-changing landscape. Concern caused Bokuto to turn and check on Akaashi every few minutes, but Akaashi waved him onwards each time.

There was so much blue and so much white. After weeks of being locked up in a building with only a sliver of sky visible through the roof, this was almost overwhelming. Of course, there was the flight outdoors to get here, but even then, the sky was always above them, feeling like something distant out of reach. And now, he was surrounded by it, surrounded by an impossibly clear shade of light blue and a sea of white clouds below him. The ground was no longer visible.

He wondered how Akaashi must think of all this. It was his first time seeing all of this. Or, the first time that Akaashi could remember.

They continued on. But still, nothing turned up. They made what was probably quite a large distance northwards, but they didn’t see a giant floating island. That whistling sound of air through owl avian feathers had started up again, and that was how Bokuto could tell Akaashi was getting tired. The afternoon sun still cast its light over the sky as they swooped through the sky, weaving their way through the air currents and cloud mounts sticking up out of the cloud layer below them.

When they flew around a particularly large cloud mound and a dark spot appeared among the sea of bright blue and white, Bokuto didn’t know if it was his eyes playing tricks on him because of tiredness or if it really was there.

“What’s that?” Akaashi asked. So, probably it wasn’t his eyes.

“Dunno. Let’s fly closer and find out.”

As they continued to fly, more distinct shapes became visible. The dark spot turned into a tangle of dark lines reaching upwards, stemming from one dark stem on top of a mound of darkness, an indistinct patch of darkness turning into a defined, recognizable shape.

“What? Is that a tree on a floating island?” Akaashi asked, tone disbelieving.

Bokuto laughed. “Sure is!”

“Should I even question?”

They soared towards it. It was a single tree on top of a patch of floating land, the island tapering into a point on the bottom and flat on top. As they got closer, it became obvious just how large the tree was, towering high up into the air, branches stretching out in a thick canopy, spouting from a thick, steady trunk. Thick roots dug into the ground.

“Hey, I recognize this!” Bokuto said as more details came into view. “This is one of the landmarks! We’re on the right track to Fukurodani!”

“Are you sure?”

“Pretty sure. You don’t see ordinary trees this big out in the middle of nowhere, and well, if this isn’t the landmark I think it is, then it’s a new discovery. C’mon, let’s land and rest for a little while we can. This means we won’t have to go back to the ground.”

He was able to pick out more and more details the closer they got to the tree. He could see now that there were long vines cascading from the tree’s thick branches, blowing slightly in the wind. There were also many other smaller islands surrounding the larger island that the tree was growing on, many barely bigger than large rocks. All of the islands were connected by tree roots, forming a thick tangle that mirrored the branches spreading high up above it.

They lighted down at the edge of the main island that the tree was growing on. It was a relief to fold his sore wings behind him and let them rest against his back.

In addition to the large tree itself, there were grasses and other small plants growing on the island. While the island was very small in comparison to the other inhabited islands in the sky, it was still big enough to support the giant tree with enough room for grass and other plants and small animals to live, and more than enough to allow both of them room to walk around freely on the island without bumping into each other. The tree itself was so large that he doubted he’d be able to wrap his wings around the thickest part of its trunk.

The vines hanging from the branches, laden with berries, brushed against his sides as Bokuto stepped under the shade of the tree, Akaashi following him. He saw a mouse squeak and skitter away out of the corner of his vision.

“Yep, this is definitely the landmark,” Bokuto said, noticing stray bones littering the base of the trunk. “It’s the Owl Tree.”

“The Owl Tree? Why’s it called that?” Akaashi asked.

“Because lots of owls live here on this island. ‘Course, they’d all be asleep right now, but you can still tell. See those pellets by the tree roots? Those are owl pellets. Owls spit them out after eating because they can’t digest all of their prey.”

“I know what owl pellets are. We have owls on the ground too, even if I’ve never seen them in person,” Akaashi replied. He then paused, then asked, “Do owl avians spit up pellets too after eating?”

“No. You ever feel the urge to vomit out little balls of bone and fur when you’re done eating?”

“We don’t exactly eat bones and fur.”

“...Shit, you’re right.”

“So...if we did happen to eat bones and fur and feathers, would we end up spitting them up as pellets or would we digest them?”

They stopped walking and stood there in silence.

“Okay, let’s just leave that question there for now,” Akaashi finally said. “Is there anything else about this island I should know? Or...patch of islands, I should say, given that there seems to be multiple floating islands, they’re all just connected by tree roots.”

“Nah, we can call this one island, because all the land’s connected anyway. Also, the berries growing on the vines are edible.”

“They are?”

“Yeah. They’re called milkberries. We have some milkberry trees on the avian islands too.” Bokuto reached out and plucked a few berries off a nearby vine.

“I don’t think we have this back on the ground,” Akaashi said as he accepted a couple berries.

“Well, I don’t know.”

They continued walking to the tree in the center of the island until they reached the base of the tree trunk, clambering over thick roots. Akaashi moved to sit down on the grass next to the tree, leaning against the thick tree trunk, and Bokuto settled down next to him.

Much of the warmth generated from the constant movement during their ascent into the clouds began to fade, leaching out into the cool air and dissipating on the breeze, leaving him chilly. Akaashi probably felt the same way, because when Bokuto lifted a wing, he immediately took the offer and slid underneath it, pressing close to his side. Bokuto dropped his wing on top of Akaashi and then they just stayed there, half-sitting and half-lying, leaning against the base of the tree trunk and curled on the ground.

“You don’t mind if I sleep for a little, don’t you?” Akaashi murmured.

“What? No, I don’t.”

“Ah. Okay. I’ll go to sleep, then.”

“Goodlight, Akaashi,” Bokuto offered, smiling slightly at the familiar phrase.

“Goodlight?”

“It’s like goodnight. We say that before going to sleep, but ‘light’ instead of ‘night’ because it’s the day, not night.”

“Oh. Well, goodlight.”

Bokuto nodded, and the next time he turned to check on Akaashi, he was completely asleep.

_Sweet dreams, Akaashi. Hope you don’t get nightmares, because you really don’t deserve them._

Bokuto reached out to stroke a hand through Akaashi’s feathers, running it absent-mindedly over Akaashi’s wing. Akaashi had gotten much stronger in this short time than Bokuto expected. Now, asleep, resting on a floating island with a backdrop of sky and clouds behind him, his black and grey wings that had regenerated even after years of poisonings folded around them, all Bokuto could think was that Akaashi really did look like he belonged here.

Not landlocked, chained in a human cage, but free in the great skies.

* * *

How tired Akaashi had to be to wake up from a nap with no dreams, he didn’t know, but he knew that he didn’t dream. He peeled his eyes open to see Bokuto still awake beside him, eyes trained on something behind him. From what he could see under the large tree’s shade and through the hanging vines, the sky had changed colour. While it was clear sky blue when Akaashi first fell asleep, it was now a deeper blue with sunlight closer to a slanted, low gold than bright white or yellow. It wouldn’t be long before the sun began to set.

“Good afternoon, Akaashi,” Bokuto said, turning his attention to Akaashi.

“Good afternoon. How long was I asleep?” Akaashi muttered.

“Maybe a few hours. But do you still think you can continue flying7?”

“Yes, I think so,” he replied. Bokuto lifted his wing off him, pulling it back behind him.“What about you, though? Can you continue flying?”

“Yeah. I don’t feel like I need to sleep.”

Either that, or nightmares made him afraid to sleep. It was something Akaashi began to understand more as the nights wore on and he became more familiar with those odd Oblivion dreams. But he didn’t press, and instead nodded and stood up on legs somewhat unsteady with sleep. “So, are we going to continue now?” Akaashi asked.

“We should. Stretch first, though. We didn’t stretch after landing here, which was a mistake. So be extra careful stretching now, yeah?”

“Right.” And it did feel nice to stretch his wings out and feel the burn of movement against muscles that had stiffened with sleep, even with lingering soreness from the long flight up here.

After stretching came a short time checking and securing supplies, and then taking a little time to gather some milkberries from the tree vines for extra food supplies (while Akaashi didn’t particularly hate the taste, it would take some time for him to get used to it), they both moved to stand near the tree in the center of the island, facing the island edge. While the distance from where they were to the island edge was enough for a running takeoff, the thought of launching himself off the edge of what would be such a high drop to the ground made him nervous. There was the net of roots stretching out from the sides of the island, of course, but they needed to avoid stepping on the roots because there was no telling if the roots were able to hold their weight.

“Just like the usual. Don’t be afraid of the drop,” Bokuto said.

Easy for an experienced flier to say, but Akaashi just said, “Okay.”

Bokuto broke out into a sprint first, and Akaashi started running after him. The sharp drop moved closer and closer at a startlingly quick pace, reminding him starkly of how he had chosen to turn and throw himself to his death rather than be taken captive again back on the ground.

_I can fly now. I have my wings now. I’ll be okay._

His wings felt heavy. Bokuto leaped and flew up off the island in front of him.

_Jump. Do it. I can fly. I can fly._

Trying to gather as much power behind his legs as he could, Akaashi pushed off the ground in a leap that felt weaker than he’d like. He forced his wings out and into a powerful downstroke, letting himself rise in the air.

He barely noticed the apprehension clamping down around his lungs until he let out a relieved breath as he began to rise steadily into the air, pulling out of his shaky leap into a much steadier forward flight.

“Sorry. That wasn’t my best,” Akaashi commented.

“Hey, it got you off the ground. I’d say it’s okay.”

“Alright.” Changing the topic, he asked, “Are we still heading north?”

“Yep.”

Turning his attention forward, the Owl Tree dropped away from them. Akaashi only risked a quick glance backwards to see it pulling away from them, diminishing in size, before he quickly turned his head forwards again at Bokuto’s, “I don’t suggest looking back, either! Has the same effect as looking down!”

He nodded and turned his attention to the skies around them. As they left behind the comfort of solid land (even if it had only been one small island in the vast skies), the risky, exhilarating sensation of soaring through the open air at fast speeds with no solid land to rest on rose up to engulf him once again in the breakneck forward motion and cold winds whipping around him. The first glimpse he had of this sight was just earlier this afternoon, where the earthy colours of the ground were blocked out by the clouds, locking them in an entirely new, airy world of blue and white.

He had somewhat gotten used to the sight of a world consisting only of clouds, sky, and floating rocks. (Akaashi almost snorted at the thought of him not being surprised to see a floating island with a giant tree in the sky, held up by nothing visible. How much information had he consumed from Bokuto to make him see giant floating rocks and islands in the sky as normal?) But even so, it was so fundamentally different from the world Akaashi had grown up in that it was still something both unsettling and breathtakingly beautiful about it. It was as if he had completely left the world he had grown up in behind and entered an entirely different world, separated from the land he knew by a great distance and closed off from view by a thick layer of clouds. There was no green or brown ground, but instead, clear horizons stretching as far as the eye could see in every direction, lit up by the sun.

A world Bokuto had spoken of, a world that Akaashi hoped to see, a world that he was seeing right now with his own eyes as they struggled to reach the home of the owl avians.

_Is this what birds see?_

Even on their long journey before they managed to fly up into the cloud layer, the ground had always been in sight, zipping below underneath them as they flew, an ever-present companion. If he tipped his head down then, he could see green and brown blurring past. Now, when he looked down, all he could see was the cloud layer separating this world from his old world.

_Maybe, all birds see things differently. But this is what I will see, as an avian._

Earlier this day, Akaashi had been too exhausted by the flight upwards to fully appreciate their surroundings. But now, somewhat refreshed from the nap, he was fully aware of the fluffy clouds both below them in an otherworldly imitation of the ground and rising from the cloud layer below them and forming ever-changing mountains and landscapes and formations. Flying among them felt like playing in a land blanketed in snow.

The sky was incredibly clear. No buildings, no cliffs, no ground or sea rising around them to block out the view of the sky. He was used to thinking of the sky as a ceiling to the world he knew, but he now could see that it was its own world. And he was now immersed in it.

Shaping the air around him in confident, controlled, strong flaps, he followed Bokuto’s path, navigating and twisting around the gusts of air. The wind felt stronger here than it was on the ground, and it took every bit of the barely passable flight skills he had practiced on the ground to weave around the currents and winds.

Neither of them spoke for a while, but Bokuto would eventually turn around to check on Akaashi, and Akaashi would wave him on each time. Time passed on in this manner for quite a while. He wasn’t sure how long. He knew that on long journeys like this, time seemed to blend into the background as they fought closer to their goal, and there was nothing but the moment, flying through surrounding sensations blending into the background. But he did know that it had at least been a while. His wings were burning slightly from exertion, but that too, had faded into the background.

With the sky unobstructed and impossibly clear, and the clouds reflecting the sunlight, he could watch the sun set in full, watch the sky transition in full as evening fell.

The sunlight began to slant further and further, as the sky began to transition from its current shade of blue to a darker blue as hints of gold began to seep into the horizon, the first signs of the setting sun.

As evening fell further, the gold on the horizon transitioned into a deep, dazzling orange that bled gold and red and violet into the darkening blue sky. It happened so smoothly that he only noticed when he turned his attention to the side and noticed the vibrant blend of colour on the horizon.

By now, the sun was setting in full, painting the sky in shades of pink, violet, blue, orange, and gold. Akaashi had seen sunsets before, but this was something entirely different - this was being enclosed in the sunset’s light and beauty. The sunlight reflected off the clouds, turning what was below them into a sea of white, pale gold, and pink that zipped past as they flew, and highlighting the cloud formations and mountains.

“Wow.” When Akaashi breathed out, that was the only word he could form, transfixed by the sheer majesty of the sight.

“It’s pretty, isn’t it?” Bokuto asked. “Ever seen anything like this on the ground?”

“I’ve seen sunsets before, but nothing like this. Nothing so...immersive.”

“Well. We usually can only see sunsets or sunrises like this out in the open sky, because on the islands, there’s the ground and there’s trees and mountains blocking the view and stuff.”

“Have you seen sunsets like these?” Akaashi asked.

“Yeah, a few times. All on Scout missions. It’s really different in the open sky, right? Like you’re surrounded in colour.”

“Yes. It really is.”

The sky was its own landscape, and they were surrounded in it. Distant towering clouds became mountains tinged in sunlight, and he got a good view of one of them as they broke into a banking turn to fly past one such cloud jutting out of the sea underneath.

“Hey, look!” Bokuto then called, pointing. When he followed his line of view, Akaashi picked out a cluster of dark spots a little above them. 

As they flew closer, he could pick out more details, and he asked, “Are those floating rocks?”

“Yep. We should rest there while we still can. Who knows if we’ll find something else like this? We might have to fly all the way to Fukurodani without stopping if we don’t rest here.”

Immediately understanding, Akaashi fell into Bokuto’s flight path, following him to the largest rock among the cluster, which barely looked big enough to support both of them.

“Are you sure it won’t fall?” Akaashi asked.

“Pretty sure it won’t.”

The rock they were aiming for tapered into a point on the bottom. The top of the rock, which was relatively flat, was divided into two parts, one higher than the other, forming a step from a lower ledge to the highest part of the rock.

Following Bokuto, Akaashi flared his wings out as he approached, slowing his flight and allowing him to perch on top of the higher part of the top, next to Bokuto. The rough stone scraped against his palms.

They moved to sit down on the lower ledge, leaning against the stone step. It was practically a habit by now to have their wings thrown over each other or to be holding on to each other while they rested, so Akaashi wasn’t surprised to find himself half-lying on the rock, wings tangled with Bokuto’s.

“You want to talk?” Bokuto finally asked.

Akaashi shrugged with one shoulder. He didn’t care for much at the moment. He had seen so much different scenery throughout the day that he almost felt numb with shock and awe at the moment.

“Alright.” Bokuto then started up a light chatter about avians, talking about more avian life and asking Akaashi more about human customs. Akaashi found himself drawn into the conversation out of curiosity, and was soon actively engaging in their chatter.

“I almost wish I could take pictures of the scenery around us,” he mentioned when the topic of how he was finding the sky and what he currently thought of it. At Bokuto’s quizzical look, he explained the concept of cameras as best as he could.

“Oh. But even if you could do that, it’d only be useful in a human world. I don’t think we have any of what you said we needed to make ‘cameras’ or open the pictures,” Bokuto said.

“I wasn’t really talking about making cameras. Even I don’t completely know how they’re made or exactly how they work. I was thinking of bringing one with me and then using it to take pictures.” Akaashi turned his head to peer over the stone step, at the colour-streaked sky. “They can be useful too. With a camera, you can capture the sight almost exactly as you saw it, and it might be more accurate than sketches or memory. But like you said, we’d need human tools to access and utilize them.”

“But to be honest, they really would be useful.”

“But would you risk returning to the ground, to the humans’ realm, to obtain them? And even then, you’d need someone to instruct you on using them.”

“Don’t you know how to use them? And how most of the human world works?”

“I...I do, a little,” Akaashi admitted. “But not much. I spent most of my life in a remote research facility, remember.”

“You can teach the other avians about what you do know. It might take time sorting everything out, but I’m sure we can get something done. We now actually have an avian who knows about humans. This is important.”

“This is assuming the others don’t detain me out of suspicion and then try to torture information out of me when they assume I’m an enemy of the avians because I spent so much time with humans.” When he noticed the strained expression on Bokuto’s face, he said guiltily, “Sorry. That was insensitive of me.”

“No, it’s fine,” Bokuto said but he didn’t look particularly happy. He then fell silent.

Akaashi nodded, unsure of what to say. Low guilt tight around his throat, he turned his attention back to his time on the ground and to the dilemma that had been put on hold for the strenuous flight up into the sky. 

Even if he had been little more than a science experiment, he still had been saved by the researchers there when they had chosen to disguise him as human. What was better? Living free and risky, or shackled and safe? What did his “parents” really think of him? Surely, they must care for him at least to some degree, if the awkward conversations about communication and being happy meant anything.

And if they were willing to save Akaashi, why were they also willing to put Bokuto through so much pain? There was still so much he didn’t know.

Did he want to know?

_Yes, I want to know._

But if he wanted to know more, he would have to return to the ground and ask about it.

That in itself was an enormous issue in itself. Not only would there be lots of trouble navigating, there was the question of if the other avians would allow him to return to the ground, or if there were any avians willing to accompany him there. And of course, there was the issue on how to approach interactions between two different races that had a current relationship fraught with hostility and caution.

But he did want to go back there. And for the first time that day, his mind wandered back to the classmates and acquaintances he had left when he flew away. To the researcher that gave up her memories to save them. To the wide world out there that he had only seen in pictures, to the idea of so many different cities and countries he had only ever heard of.

What story did the researchers have to come up with to explain his disappearance to his acquaintances? To the other residents?

And a deep want began to surge, low in his chest.

_I want to one day return to the ground. I want to speak with the humans with no open hatred between us. I want this cycle of hate to end, I want to know the people at the lab better, I want there to be an open relationship between humans and avians. But what do I have to do to achieve that? I’ll have to return to the ground and start building diplomatic relationships, for sure, but how will the other avians respond to that? How can I manage the long-distance flights, how can I convince other avians to join me?_

“Akaashi, you’ve got that look on your face again,” Bokuto said.

“What look?”

“The overthinking one. What are you thinking right now?”

Akaashi sighed.

“You can tell me.”

If there was one place to start, it was here, at least. Haltingly, Akaashi explained his thought process of returning to the ground to start more diplomatic and friendly relationships between humans and avians.

“That’s...I can’t blame you, honestly,” Bokuto replied. “You must’ve had friends there too, right?”

“And loose ends. So many loose ends,” Akaashi murmured. “I just...left the moment I found out I was avian. Don’t misunderstand me, I’m glad I left early. Otherwise, I might’ve been left to repeatedly mull over how to break to the researchers I found out I wasn’t human without them all panicking on me and finding ways to lock me in a cage. But it left so many things unsaid.” The image of the researchers gathered near the cliff looking up at him as he turned his back on them and flew away the night they fled from the compound flashed through his head, the memory of the desire to block out the crushing feeling of betrayal he had felt clamping down on his mind.

“So you want to go back there. For...closure?”

“Closure. Perhaps. Closure does sound nice. But at the same time, it’s like you said.” Two conflicting feelings began to clash and war with each other in his heart. Hatred for the humans’ cruelty, hope that not all humans were as evil as the avians thought. “Not all humans are evil,” Akaashi admitted. “And...I think it would be beneficial for everyone involved if we formed a mutually beneficial relationship between humans and avians. No more fear. No more disdain for lifeforms different from them. No more hatred.”

“That...doesn't sound bad. The main question is how you’re gonna pull it off.”

“Yes, there’s that. From what I’ve heard and seen, humans have mostly seen avians as experiments, lower-class lifeforms to be studied and avians have mostly seen humans as mindless monsters to avoid, lest they hurt them. But if we want this to succeed, we’ll have to bridge the gap between perspectives. Make both sides see both the good and bad of the other.” Akaashi leaned his head back on the stone ledge and sighed. This was beginning to feel impossible.

Bokuto lightly smacked his shoulder. “Hey, if there’s anyone that can do this, it’s you.” He offered a soft smile. “You’ve been both the good and the bad of humans, you’ll learn about avians, and you’re an avian that wants this all to change. You can do it.”

It was a start, at least. Offering his own tired smile, he breathed out, and tried to turn his mind away from the worry and clashing feelings in his heart and focus on the world around them, still bright with sunlight and colour. “And there’s the question of what I’ll do once I get to Fukurodani. How does the education and job system work on the avian islands?” he asked.

“Well, you go to school as a kid and then start getting accepted into apprenticeships as a teen. By the time you’re an adult, you’ll probably have a good idea of what next.”

“That sounds incredibly vague.”

“Eh. It’s how we’ve lived for generations.”

What even was there for him to do? “I...still am not sure.”

“Will you join the Scouts?”

“Join...the Scouts?” From what Akaashi had heard, that particular job was known for its difficulty and how potentially dangerous it was. He blinked, not knowing what to say.

“Yeah. You get to learn how to fly and navigate and stuff. It might be good if you wanna be a diplomat with the humans, because then you’ll learn how to get around. And then again, there are sights you can see out in the open sky that you can’t see on the islands.” When Akaashi didn’t reply, Bokuto looked away and said, “Ah, maybe I shouldn’t have said that. Nevermind. You can choose what you want to do yourself.”

“No, no, there’s nothing wrong with what you said. But maybe I might join the Scouts. You seem to enjoy it.” And honestly, what he might learn as a Scout might help him with his diplomacy with the humans. It wasn’t a bad choice.

“Oh! Really?”

“Yes, really. You said they take students and offer apprenticeships, right? Maybe I’ll take a Scout apprenticeship and see how it goes.”

“Yes!”

“Who knows, maybe I’ll even get to meet Scouts from other islands, if they have them.”

“For sure, for sure. They do have them. My friend Kuroo from Nekoma is also a Scout, and I heard Karasuno’s been getting some really strong Scouting teams over the last few years. We even have meetups and training camps for Scout apprentices, which are lots of fun.”

Their chatter transitioned into a calm talk over avian professions and the Scouts. And all around them, the light of the setting sun painted their surroundings an impossibly majestic yet ethereal, still world of air and colour. Akaashi felt himself relaxing further and further as their time passed.

Then, a shadow passed overhead, and a loud roar unlike that of a ship horn sounded, startling both of them. Jolted out of the calm chatter, Akaashi leapt up to stand on the rock, folding his wings behind him and Bokuto did the same. He felt cold without Bokuto’s wing over him. Another shadow joined the first one, and then another, and then another.

His eyes widened when he saw what was in front of him.

They didn’t have large wings and lean frames like birds did. They were shaped more like blimps, practically floating across the sky, silhouetted black against the backdrop of the setting sun. Their movements were slow and languid. If Akaashi had to describe them, he’d call them whales, due to their large size and shape and the way their bodies tapered into a large, finned tail, as well as large dorsal fins rising from their backs and the smaller fins on either side of their body where the pectoral fins would be on a normal whale, flapping slowly up and down in an imitation of wings.

“Cloud whales!” Bokuto exclaimed. “Those are rare! You only usually see them far out in the sky!”

“Cloud...whales?” Akaashi managed through the sheer awe paralyzing him. There were at least a dozen of them, moving languidly across the sky.

“Come on, let’s take a closer look!”

“Can we do that?”

“Yeah. They’re not hostile. Just don’t fly too close to their mouths or tails.” Stretching his wings out behind him, Bokuto said, “There’s no room for a running takeoff, so what you’ll need to do is to just jump off here, then spread your wings and fly.”

Akaashi hadn’t even considered that. Peeling his attention away from the wonder of the sight before him, he peered down the side of the ledge, to see nothing but white below him. The other rocks around them hadn’t moved, and they were still floating there, beside and on the same plane as the rock they had rested on.

“Like what you did the night we escaped the humans, yeah?” Bokuto offered.

And while Akaashi didn’t regret what he did that night, he still shuddered with fear to think of the terrifying free fall, careening madly through thin air with nothing to support him, and what could’ve happened if his wings hadn’t regenerated right at that moment.

He nodded. He had his wings now, and he would fly.

Bokuto leaped into the air, falling a short distance before quickly opening his wings and darting to the side. Akaashi lost sight of him, view blocked by the ledge he was standing on, and turned to see Bokuto rising up off to the side.

A fear beginning to rise up in his chest and blocking out the previous awe of the cloud whales, Akaashi cut off all other thoughts before stepping forward and letting himself fall.

_He’s falling, he’s falling, he’ll fall to his death like the way he fell in his dreams, like the way he expected to die when he was cornered by the cliff._

It felt like he was choking on cold fear, unable to move at all as gravity took ahold of him.

“Akaashi! You can do it! Fly!”

_Fly. Fly like the way his wings broke his fall in his dreams, fly like the way Bokuto guided him both in his dreams and in reality, fly like the way he flew when he leaped, fly like the way he’s been flying all this time._

He had wings now. He knew how to fly.

_I can fly. I won’t fall. I can fly, can’t I? So I won’t fall if I fly the way I know._

A brief flash of a dream lit in warm sunlight and bright laughter as Bokuto guided his flight path flashed through his head, accompanied by the sensation of moving air and beating wings.

The pressure of fear clamping down around him loosened, and that was enough for Akaashi to slam out his wings and break his fall. However, it was numb, dulled by fear and the need to tear free of the terror threatening to drown him like the cold seawater that had pulled him down the night of their failed ascent to the sky. A few powerful flaps brought him soaring upwards in full flight, and that shook off the last of the lingering fear.

Clearing his head of the messy thoughts, Akaashi was brought back to the world around him. He noticed Bokuto pull out of a dive and level off again, as if he had been moving to catch Akaashi when he fell. Another few flaps brought him high enough to clear the rock they had been resting on, flying upwards. Bokuto flew towards him, falling into flight beside him.

“Sorry. I lost it for a little there,” Akaashi gasped.

“No one said it’d be easy, would it?” Bokuto asked gently. “You had trouble, you dealt with it, and you’re okay now. So no trouble.”

He gritted his teeth, remembering how his fear had choked him and made him freeze, and then how he barely managed to break free.

“We can work on that,” Bokuto added. “For now, wanna go sightseeing?”

The cloud whales. Right. “Sure. Lead the way,” Akaashi managed, gulping down breaths of air to try and slow his pounding heart.

Bokuto turned and broke out into a slow, relaxed flight towards the group of whales. And as they approached, Akaashi was dimly aware of his fear beginning to melt away, replaced by the former wonder of the spectacle.

Soaring through a bright world of colour, they began to fly towards the whales. In the evening sky, the wild winds had slowed down a little into lazy, softer gusts whispering across the air.

As they approached, Akaashi began to note just how large the whales are, at least a couple dozen meters long. They also seemed to be covered in feathers ranging from white to grey-blue, the side fins looking more like tiny wings than fins. Some of them had distinctive markings formed by their feathers. Feathered tails beat at the air, making them look more like they were swimming through air than flying through air.

Such a thing should be impossible according to the laws of the world Akaashi knew, according to the laws of the ground. But yet, here they were. Here they were, seeing whales swimming through the sky in some fantastical sight of nature. Eyes wide with wonder, he leveled off into a slow glide overhead the cloud whales.

“Wait! Bokuto! Is that safe?” Akaashi called in slight alarm when he saw Bokuto break out of their slow glide and turn to fly downwards towards a nearby whale.

“Yep! At least, according to what we know!” came the response.

“Reassuring,” Akaashi muttered, but he turned to follow Bokuto anyway. The whales sure didn’t look hostile.

Bokuto lighted down on the back of a nearby whale, crouching on its back. Akaashi followed him, flaring out his wings to slow his approach and then land on the whale, perhaps not as lightly as Bokuto did but not particularly heavily either. Hopefully he didn’t hurt the whale. He registered that the white feathers were warm under his hands.

The whale didn’t try to shake them off or anything. It just kept up its relaxed pace drifting across air, with them on its back. Bokuto sat down on its back, splaying his wings out behind him.

“We can ride these?” Akaashi asked as he followed suit.

“From what avians know, yeah, we can. They can support our weight. We just need to make sure we’re moving in the right direction.”

“Are we still moving north?”

“Yeah. And so are these whales. Let’s take a trip by cloud whale, and then we can fly off when they start drifting off course or when we see Fukurodani.” Bokuto laughed. “Wouldn’t that be a story to tell the other avians when we get there?”

“How often have avians encountered these, or had the chance to study them?” Akaashi asked, reaching down to pet the cloud whale’s feathers. He was aware of the movement of the whale, seeing the clouds drift past them from his vantage point up on the whale’s back, but it felt very smooth, the whale pushing itself forward with steady beats of its tail. Another whale let out a low cry like the roar they had heard earlier.

“Not often, but we do know a little from when avians did encounter them.”

“How do they even manage to stay floating?” he asked, awe creeping into his tone. “Not only are they very large, they don’t even seem to have wings or anything to propel them and keep them in the air. It’s like they’re floating, not even flying.”

“That’s honestly something we avians have never figured out. How do they stay floating? We’ve never been particularly worried about the question.”

“What’s the best hypothesis you have on this?” Akaashi asked.

“Just that they’re really light. So light that they don’t need wings to stay in the air, they just beat their tails and that pushes them forward.”

“But...they’d have to be extremely light, with a very low density. A density equal to or lower than the density of air,” he breathed. “In other words, they’d almost be lighter than air.”

“Lighter than air, huh? That’s a nice idea,” Bokuto murmured. “But then that’d mean that they spend basically all their lives floating through the air, never stopping to land.”

“I don’t think they would need to land to rest, if they’re really that light. We have whales like this in the ocean, you know. Because they’re always in the water, they’re buoyed up by the water and don’t need to rest on solid ground. This would be like that, but high up in the air instead of in deep water,” Akaashi said. There was something so majestic and wistful and melancholy about the thought. Ever travelling, ever drifting, but never returning to any home. Always seeing such wondrous sights of open skies and ethereal sunrises and sunsets, but never resting eyes on the familiarity of a home.

Such was probably the life of these creatures, something Akaashi had never thought would ever exist in this world he lived in. And yet, according to everything Bokuto had told him, there was still lots of open sky to explore.

So much, unknown to him. Perhaps also unknown to all the humans living on the ground without a second thought to worlds they’d never even considered to be real.

He had been raised on the ground, but here he was. Seeing both sides of the human and avian worlds. There was so much for both sides to learn, so much for both sides to see.

“I’m returning to the ground one day,” Akaashi whispered, the words bubbling out of his throat, spurred on by the thought of ever exploring further and further, seeing so many wonderful things in the world, the way these cloud whales did. Spurred on by the sheer beauty and majesty of a world painted in the colours of the setting sun, an immersive sight that he had never seen on the ground and probably wouldn’t be able to see if he always stayed on the floating islands. “I’m going to take a Scout apprenticeship, train to be a Scout, learn about and explore the avian world, and then I’ll return to the ground to forge peaceful alliances between humans and avians.”

Bokuto blinked at him, yellow eyes wide and face illuminated by the warm light of the setting sun, casting gold light across his skin and hair and catching in his feathers. Then, his lips twisted upwards into a soft smile. “I’m glad to hear that, Akaashi,” he said, holding out a hand.

Akaashi accepted it, lacing their fingers together.

That was the only contract they ever needed.

A soft silence fell around them, one that spoke of a temporary tranquility that would be broken the moment they needed to move again, but was currently allowed to linger in the peacefulness surrounding them. The quiet was only broken up by the wind and the occasional call of a cloud whale in the large group that was flying around them. They continued to travel in this slow, relaxed fashion on the whale’s back, clouds moving past them. The sun continued to set, letting darker shades of cool blue and violet overtake the warmer, more vibrant colours of red and orange and pink, strains of gold sunlight slipping down the horizon until the sun was nothing more than a pool of yellow on the clouds. Night and darkness began to fall, although it was still kept at bay by the sunlight still remaining on the horizon. All the while, they sat on the cloud whale’s back, fingers still intertwined between them.

Much of the sky was a cool, ever-darkening blue-violet now, but he didn’t have any trouble seeing due to his owl avian night sight.

He didn’t have any trouble noticing a dark patch that had appeared off to the side in the distance, even if it was half-blocked by passing clouds.

“Hey. You see that?” Bokuto asked, pointing to the dark patch.

Akaashi nodded, and the tranquility that had hovered around them all throughout the ride through the sunset on the cloud whale began to drain away like departing clouds. Both of them knew now that they had to move. It was time to pull out of the introspective, peaceful, wondering headspace that he had fallen into and pull his attention back to the flight and navigation skills needed to make the last leg of their journey home.

Home. The thought sent a low, liquid warmth pooling in his chest. Somewhere to come home to after long trips through the sky, somewhere to rest after long hours or maybe days sightseeing.

“Let’s get going, then. That might just be Fukurodani,” Akaashi said, shaking his head to clear it. “It doesn’t look like a very large island, though.”

“That’s because it’s far away. But I’m almost sure that it’s Fukurodani,” Bokuto said.

“Alright. Let’s go see. Do you have everything?”

“Yeah. You?”

“Same here.”

Both of them stood up. Akaashi swayed a little as he stood, not used to the whale’s motions while standing, but managed to catch his balance.

“I’m gonna miss this little guy. I’ve grown attached to him,” Bokuto said, peering down at the whale’s back. He reached down to pet it before standing back up. “Bye, buddy. Hope we see each other again someday. Thanks for the ride.”

Akaashi smiled, and reached down to pet it as well. “Yes, thank you for carrying us to this point. I hope we have been agreeable passengers for you. Goodbye, and safe travels.”

“We should adopt him,” Bokuto said as he turned to fly, stretching out his wings.

Akaashi scowled at him, but it was more joking than anything else. “We don’t even know what he eats, Bokuto-san.”

“Hey, if we’re gonna coparent our adopted whale, don’t tack on your ‘formal honorific’ back on my name.”

Allowing a light laugh, Akaashi stood back up to stretch as well. “What should we name him, Bokuto? And I’m using ‘him’ as a general term. We don’t even know if it’s male or female.”

“Let’s name him Cloudy.”

“Cloudy.”

“Yes, Cloudy.”

“Cloudy for a cloud whale.”

“What, at least it fits. What do you suggest?”

“Alright. He is Cloudy now,” Akaashi assented. Peering around the whale’s back, he added, “We can identify him by that grey marking, by the dorsal fin. The one shaped like a crescent moon.”

“Good thinking, Akaashi!” Bokuto said. “Bye, Cloudy! Hope we meet again!”

“Yes, farewell, Cloudy.” Akaashi smilied. How had he gotten attached to a whale due to Bokuto’s antics?

He turned to follow Bokuto. Unlike the floating rock they had been resting on earlier, there was enough room for a running takeoff here. Bokuto moved first, running forward a few steps and then leaping into the air, opening his wings and them soaring upwards with a few powerful flaps. The movements now familiar to him, Akaashi followed behind, running forward and then leaping upwards, pushing down with his wings, feeling the air bunch underneath them, and rising into the air after him. Cloudy and the flock of cloud whales dropped away, and then there was nothing but air surrounding them. Behind them, he could hear the roar of a cloud whale.

He really had gotten attached to the whales. He’d miss them, especially Cloudy.

Hopefully, he’d be able to one day see them again. But for now, he kept his gaze forward, fixing his eyes on the goal in front of them, the dark patch of land in the distance. Cool night winds began to blow around them, raking through his feathers.

His wings still vaguely ached from the long flight, but he could manage. Bokuto was still in front of him, flying steadily with no signs of slowing down.

There were more of those cloud mountains around them than before. The dark patch repeatedly vanished from view behind clouds and reappeared as they flew out from around clouds.

Neither of them spoke much as they wove around cloud mountains, eyes fixed on their destination up ahead, only a shadow against the darkening sky. The last strains of light were falling under the horizon, and the cloud cover seemed to be getting heavier. Soon, his attention was turned away from the passage of time, focusing on his wingbeats and the repetitive motions, dulled to the cold winds and passing clouds.

“Are we getting any closer?” Akaashi called after some time passed. That dark patch did look a little bigger than before, but not by much.

“Looks like it.”

“Not really.”

“The island’s pretty big, so yeah, it probably doesn’t.”

Their supposed island in the distance vanished again behind a large range of cloud formations, but they flew on, continuing on their set path. According to Bokuto, they were still heading north, so they probably would eventually reach Fukurodani.

Cooling winds buffeted at him, but Akaashi held his tired wings steady and flew on, molding the air under his wings as he flew forwards, flapping with strong, controlled wingbeats. If anything, he was definitely much stronger than when they first started their journey.

And if that island in the distance was Fukurodani, then their journey would end here. They continued to fly blindly towards their destination, vision of the island blocked out by clouds.

“Can we fly through those clouds?” Akaashi asked after more time passed. His vision of what was in front of them was practically all white now, a virtual wall of clouds blocking out all sight of the sky beyond it, including the island they were aiming for. He hadn’t seen the dark patch in a while, and his wings ached from exhaustion.

“Yep. It’ll be cold and you might end up getting soaked in water, but we can fly through them,” Bokuto replied.

Akaashi nodded. The wall of cloud formations was looming up ahead of them. His wings were now burning, but that burn of movement and exhaustion was background, secondary to their continuous movement.

They continued to fly forwards. The cloud wall rushed towards them.

And then all he could see was white, droplets stinging his vision. He narrowed his eyes and held his wings steady through the cold, wet air as they plunged headfirst into the wall of clouds without stopping. Squinting through the mist of the cloud, he could vaguely make out Bokuto in front of him, large wings churning the air.

And then, they broke free of the cloud they had flown through, and the skies opened up in front of them lit only by the very last strains of sunlight and the first appearing stars. But much of the sky was taken up by something Akaashi would never have expected to see floating in the sky if Bokuto hadn’t told him so much about it.

Up in front of them was an enormous island, silhouetted black against the indigo night sky. It was hard to gauge the exact distance between them and the island, it was so large. Even here, however, Akaashi could make out large mountains near the center of the island and the large trees growing there. Much like the island the Owl Tree was on and the rock where they had first seen the cloud whales, the island was relatively flat on top (flat as in they would be able to walk around on it, because the general landscape of the island seemed to be mountainous in some parts and covered in trees and hills in other parts) and tapered into a single point on the bottom.

“That’s it! Fukurodani!” Bokuto let out a wild cheer, his voice cracking against the quiet air. “I’d recognize it anywhere.”

Akaashi only nodded, mouth parting in astonishment, eyes wide and fixed on the island in front of him, forgetting the burn of exhaustion in his wings. This should’ve been impossible. There was no way an island of rock and dirt of that size would be able to float in the middle of the sky, unsupported.

The same way that creatures the size of those cloud whales shouldn't have been able to float through the sky at that size. But yet, here they were.

Bokuto turned around to peer at Akaashi. He smirked when he noticed the look of shock and amazement that must’ve been on his face, yellow eyes glinting mischievously in the low night.

“Wow,” Akaashi managed.

“Welcome home,” Bokuto said, grinning, as he turned back around to face Fukurodani.

They continued to fly, Fukurodani looming ever and ever closer. If he hadn’t already before, Akaashi was soon treated to a scale of just how large the avian-inhabited islands were. Even as they continued to fly on tired wings, the island seemed to only grow slightly in size, filling up the space in front of them until all Akaashi could see was the land in front of him.

“Come on! Almost there!” Bokuto called.

“You say almost there when we’ve been flying for quite a while with seemingly little progress,” Akaashi wheezed through heaving breaths.

“But I mean it this time!”

It probably really did mean something now. Akaashi was now close enough to make out the details of the land in front of them, the trees growing near the island edge and the stone ledges near the island edge and the carpet of grasses growing behind them.

Seeming to sense just how close they were to their destination, their ultimate goal, Bokuto sped up, drawing on what seemed like impossible reserves of energy. Gulping down air, Akaashi brought his wings down in a heavy downstroke to follow after him.

So close. The island looked so close. They soared towards it, flight smooth and unbroken despite exhaustion piled on by so many previous hours of flight. A sense of finality settled around him.

“You’ll have to overshoot the island edge by a little if you want to land easily,” Bokuto called. “We still need to fly past the barrier winds.”

Nodding, Akaashi focused his vision on a particular patch of wildflowers and grasses in the distance on the island. That was where he would land. All it would take now was a dozen good wingbeats. Eleven. Ten.

A heavy current of air rammed into his side, nearly pushing him off-balance. Akaashi cried out in surprise and fought to right himself, wings beating madly against the powerful wall of moving air pushing against him, making it hard to breathe.

“Those are the barrier winds! They’re not as wild as they were back when I first was blown towards the ground, but they’re still pretty bad at this time of year!” Bokuto called.

He nodded, and straightened out his flight, flapping as powerfully as he could manage. The further he navigated into the barrier winds, the messier they felt. It was no longer one straight current of air, it was a messy tangle of winds blowing in every direction, and it took every last drop of his remaining strength to keep moving.

And then, the tangled wings abated, and he tore out of the mess of winds and into still air that felt so easy to fly in compared to the barrier winds. Gasping in relief, Akaashi turned and lighted down on the ground next to where Bokuto was crouching. His knees crumpled below him and he fell forwards on all fours. It felt so restful to be actually on top of something solid.

Turning back, he couldn’t see the barrier winds. The view of the sky seemed dangerously, deviously clear. When he mentioned it to Bokuto, he replied, “Well, yeah. They’re winds. You can’t see wind.”

“Should’ve guessed,” Akaashi muttered, dragging himself up to stand.

“But can we focus on the more important part of all this? We’re here! We finally made it to Fukurodani!”

A smile creeping its way across his face, Akaashi said, “Yes. We’re here.” A mix of satisfaction, nervousness, relief, and the sheer joy of accomplishing a set goal began to flood his chest with something warm.

Bokuto grinned at him, a smile so bright it was almost blinding.

Voices sounded, and both of them shot upright, the earlier joy of having completed a goal vanishing. Whipping around, Akaashi could see other avians moving out of the trees surrounding them, gathering in a loose circle around the general area the two of them had landed in. He tensed, waiting for a reaction, nervousness surging through his limbs. How would they react to seeing him?

Bokuto seemed to have no misgivings, leaping up and loudly greeting the other avians around them. Akaashi stayed standing where he was, warily casting his gaze across the gathered avians. Several of the other avians, wearing a similar yellow, black, and white uniform as Bokuto, seemed to recognize him, returning his greeting with equal parts cheer, surprise, and relief.

“Damn right, I survived falling to the ground!” Bokuto called, laughing. “But really, I couldn’t’ve done it alone.” He then grabbed Akaashi’s arm and dragged him forward. Panicked, Akaashi tried to pull away, but Bokuto pushed him forward and said, “This is Akaashi. Long story short, he’s an avian the humans captured as a kid but managed to escape and help me in the process.”

“O-oh, hello. It’s nice to meet you,” Akaashi managed to stammer. Most of the avians there regarded him with curiosity, suspicion, or a mix of the two. He tried to inconspicuously pull away from Bokuto, but to no avail.

And then: “Keiji?”

The word was soft, almost disbelieving.

Bokuto didn’t tell the avians his first name, Akaashi was sure. Not daring to believe it, he turned his eyes to the avian who had spoken.

There were a pair of avians, a man and a woman. There should be introductions, but Akaashi didn’t need them to tell who they were. He could see pieces of himself staring back at him from the avian couple, in the sharp green eyes, the curly black hair, the black and grey feathers covering a large pair of owl wings.

_Mom. Dad._

He should speak. He should say something. But he stayed silent. What was he supposed to say?

It had been almost thirteen years. And he didn’t even remember them.

His hands trembled. How was he supposed to tell them? Where should he even start?

Bokuto released his tight grip on Akaashi’s arm and rested a gentle hand on his wing. “It’s okay,” he said. “You came here to go to a new home, right? To rediscover the world of the avians? To learn how to fly, right?” Akaashi stared at him, mind working through everything he had seen. “Well, you need to start somewhere, so you can start here. I’ll be here to help, okay?”

Akaashi nodded. There was still so much to unpack.

But he could start here. If he learned how to fly after so many years of being kept in the dark about his avian heritage and flew all the way to Fukurodani, he could reconcile with the parents who thought their avian son was dead.

There was so much to work through, so much to learn.

There’d be a time for considering the past. There’d be a time for considering the far future. But now, he had to focus on what was right in front of them.

Surrounded by falling darkness and shadow, a deep, clear night sky of violet and blue above him, Akaashi stepped forward, Bokuto guiding him, and didn’t look back.

* * *

_Bird's-eye view, awake the stars 'cause they're all around you_

_Wide eyes will always brighten the blue_

_Chase your dreams and remember me, sweet bravery_

_'Cause after all, those wings will take you up, so high_

_So bid the forest floor goodbye as you race the wind_

_And take to the sky_

_(You take to the sky)_

_(You take to the sky)_

* * *

When he woke this morning, there weren’t any nightmares. It was something he was grateful for, at least.

Hovering in that low, sleepy state of just having woken from a long and comfortable sleep, Bokuto adjusted his hold on Akaashi, who was still asleep beside him in the bed, curling around him more comfortably. He stroked a hand gently through Akaashi’s thick plumage of dark grey and black.

It had been several months since they returned to Fukurodani, and those months had been filled with long periods of work. Akaashi had to settle things with his parents, and there was the whole issue with encountering humans and Akaashi himself, and they had to settle things with much of Fukurodani’s authorities. And as soon as all of the talking and formalities and documentation of their experiences as well as Akaashi’s explanation of the human world and how he wanted avians and humans to build diplomatic relationships (which garnered mixed reactions), then came the Scout apprenticeship Akaashi applied for.

Working through his studies and training as a Scout student, Akaashi had eventually been placed into Bokuto’s scouting team and moved into Bokuto’s room at the student dorms. The dorm room came with two beds, one on the loft and one underneath it, but both of them had gotten so accustomed to sleeping next to each other from the trip to Fukurodani that they usually ended up sleeping together in the bed on the loft instead of in separate beds, with wings thrown over each other, half-buried under blankets and downy feathers. It had eventually become routine, and neither of them were keen on breaking it.

It was still early in the morning, early dawn sunlight streaming in through the skylight in the top of the dorm. The curtain that was used to cover the skylight when it was raining or cold was thrown off to the side, allowing sunlight to come in through a window to the sky above.

The pale sunlight shone off Akaashi’s skin, illuminating his bare arm, which was thrown to the side. Bokuto could still see the pale scar on his forearm, near his elbow. That was where Akaashi had cut out his own tracking chip so the humans would have no way to find them again after escaping. He doubted it would fade, and it gave him mixed feelings every time he looked at it. It was both a reminder of the pain Akaashi went through in order to fly here and a reminder of just how strong and determined he was, going to such lengths to free himself.

Sighing and getting up, Bokuto pulled the blanket more securely over Akaashi’s still-sleeping form and got up, hopping off the bed on the loft to sit down at the desk.

With today would come another heavy flying assignment. But now, in the calm quiet of the morning, they would still have a little time to rest.

And they would soon be off, flying off to the distance.

* * *

_The air burned in his lungs as he ran, crashing blindly through thickets of thorny branches, ducking and twisting wildly to avoid the branches, trying to keep them out of his face. Noise sounded behind him, and he knew his pursuers wouldn’t be far behind._

_He wasn’t fast enough. The noises of people crashing through foliage sounded closer and closer. No matter how fast he tried to run, it always seemed like they were able to easily catch up to him._

_The thickets opened up, and he put on a burst of speed, weaving through the scattered trees, the night sky visible above him, the ground rushing past him._

_Suddenly, the ground ended in a sudden drop, and he stopped abruptly so as to not fall over the edge, skidding to a halt at the very edge of the drop. A few rocks dropped off the edge, vanishing into the blackness beneath._

_He was caught between two very dangerous places. He could either go back, to his pursuers’ cruelty, or forward, into the dangerous drop in front of him._

_Which should he choose?_

_Fear pulsed low in his chest, making his breath short._

A hand ran through his feathers, smoothing them down. “Shh. It’s okay. Just a nightmare,” a voice said. “Keiji, it’s okay. It’s just a nightmare.”

Akaashi blinked his eyes open to see Bokuto peering down at him, perching on the edge of the loft, yellow eyes concerned. He groaned and sat up, running a hand through his hair.

“Thanks,” Akaashi muttered. His throat felt raw.

“You alright?” Bokuto asked.

“Yes. I’m okay now.” His head was still spinning slightly, but at least he didn’t feel tired.

“That’s good. Do you wanna go back to sleep?”

“No. I don’t think I can go back to sleep today.” Akaashi sat up, blanket pooling around his waist. “I guess I’m still frustrated that I still have these dreams, even after I escaped. Oblivion probably did a number on me.”

“Hey. Not your fault, remember.” Bokuto tapped Akaashi’s head. “How many times did I have to tell you this by now, Keiji?”

“Too many, probably. Sorry about that.”

“Stop apologizing.”

“Right. I’ll get dressed for the day, and then we can eat and wait for class to begin.”

Bokuto slid off the loft to allow Akaashi room to get off. When he landed on the dorm’s floor, the nightmares were already fading from his mind, replaced with the familiar and almost domestic sights of the room around them. The desk, covered with notes and textbooks and pens. Hanging on the wall, a few dried flowers picked from Nekoma from a Scout student training camp, as well as several flower crowns courtesy of two of Nekoma’s Scout apprentices, Kuroo and Kenma. A cluster of black crow feathers woven into a rough fan from Hinata, a Karasuno Scout apprentice at the training camp. So much had happened since they first arrived on Fukurodani.

By the time both of them were dressed in their Scout uniforms, the sun was still rising. It was still far too early in the morning for them to get much done, and class still wasn’t set to begin until at least a couple hours later.

“A round around the campus before breakfast?” Bokuto asked. “I’m just too riled up at the moment to do much else!”

“Sure, Koutarou. I don’t see why not,” Akaashi said.

Bokuto smiled at him.

The two of them stepped out of the dorm onto a wide tree branch that made up part of the giant tree the Scout student dorms they lived in were on. Bokuto turned to the side and started running, and then leaped into the air.

Akaashi broke out into a run as well, and when he leaped, there was no hesitation, not after everything he’d already been through, not with all the training he had gone through and how much stronger he had become since successfully fleeing the research compound he had been trapped in for most of his life.

And then there was nothing but air below him.

The sky had never looked so bright.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *romantic flight theme from httyd plays softly in the distance*
> 
> Thanks for reading, and thank you especially to everyone who left comments and kudos here because they are very reassuring that I'm doing something right here, as well as to the people who stayed here since the fic's beginning and reading along as I tried to organize my whimsical daydreams into a coherent storyline. Thanks again for reading, and maybe see y'all later!


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